


Christmas in Central City

by Ewrites00



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, College, F/F, New York City, Romance, University
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-18 08:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ewrites00/pseuds/Ewrites00
Summary: Lena is a scholarship student at National City University. Kara is a budding journalist. When they meet through a twist of fate, friendship immediately starts to bloom. And as they grow closer and closer, Lena starts to wonder whether friendship is really all she wants from Kara. A Supercorp romance blossoms against the background of a perfect Christmas.





	1. The Interview

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this story during Christmas last year, but never got around to finishing it because December was over before I knew it. But I had so much fun writing it and I can't wait to get back into it! It's just going to be a fluffy Christmas fic. A Hallmark movie, but gayer.

“Dear Ms Luthor,  
I am Kara Danvers from the NCU newspaper. I was wondering if I could do an interview with you for our upcoming article on students with scholarships. We are interested in discovering the social situation of such students. Please let me know as soon as possible whether you would be able to participate. Thank you in advance.  
Kindest regards,  
Kara Danvers.”

I sighed. Participating in such an interview was not exactly ideal for the social situation she was trying to discover. I wasn’t secretive about the fact that I was a scholarship student; it meant that I had gotten in purely based on merit and that was nothing to be ashamed of. But appearing in an article about it so that the entire school knew about was something else. Still, I found the students newspaper quite amusing and had considered applying for a position myself, so I decided to help an aspiring journalist.

“Dear Ms Danvers,  
I would be happy to answer any questions you may have on the topic. Please let me know when you are available, so that we can arrange a meeting.  
Yours sincerely,  
Lena Luthor.”

I sent the email as soon as I’d written it so that I wouldn’t back out. And who knew, maybe it would be good to have a contact within the newspaper. Since I had both a job and a full academic curriculum, I didn’t have much time to go around meeting people. In fact, some days the only person I talked to where the people who lived in the unit of my dormitory, my fellow classmates, and the kids I was tutoring.  
Suddenly, my laptop pinged. It seemed Ms Danvers was eagerly awaiting my response.

“Dear Ms Luthor,  
I am very grateful for your timely reply. So far, I haven’t heard anything from anyone else, so it seems you are my only participant. Would you be willing to meet Monday morning at 10:00 at the university café?   
Best wishes,  
Kara Danvers.”

I grinned. There weren’t many university students who were willing to get up before noon at a Monday morning, so it seemed Ms Danvers was taking her job quite seriously. Since I was also one of those select few, I was happy to oblige:

“Dear Ms Danvers,  
I will see you on Monday morning. Best of luck to you during the rest of the week.  
Kind regards,  
Lena Luthor.”

I checked my watch and was startled to find it was already 16:13. I had a tutoring session planned at 16:30, and I did not like being late. It seemed my communication with Ms Danvers had kept me so distracted I’d lost track of time.

For the rest of the week, I did not spend much thought on my meeting with the reporter. My schoolwork kept me busy, as usual, and since finals week was nearing for the high school students I was tutoring, I’d also been kept busy outside of school. 

So when my alarm went off on Monday morning at 08:00, I’d forgotten for a second the reason for my early rise, before I saw the piece of paper lying on my desk that had “Reporter meeting” scrawled on it in big, blocky letters. My desk was full of reminders like that, since I was terrified to forget an important commitment or idea. 

After my morning run and a quick smoothie for breakfast, I looked in my closet. But none of my clothes seemed right. My small closet at CSU meant I’d already grown tired of all of my clothes within the first two months. But my job didn’t exactly pay enough to afford weekly shopping tips.

I spent way too much time in front of the mirror, before telling myself that it was just an interview for the school newspaper and there was really no reason for me to get so worked up about my choice of outfit. I went with a pair of dark skinny jeans, black boots with a slight heel and a cream blouse with some embroidery. It was sleek and elegant, but not too formal. And I had bought the blouse for the first year I had participated in Model UN, so it always made me feel a little bit like that time: nervous but confident I could do what I was supposed to do.

The student café was close to my dormitory building, luckily, since I’d wasted so much time deciding on an outfit. I knew a lot of students went there to study, but I couldn’t understand why. If they really wanted to study, wouldn’t a quiet place without distractions be much more suitable? And it wasn’t like the student café was a nice place to be. The tables were always slightly grimy, which wasn’t strange given the disgusting rag that was used to wipe them down, and the coffee tasted like river sludge.

As I walked into the café, I suddenly became aware of a sense of nervousness within myself. How was I going to know who the reporter was? And what if she asked difficult questions, questions about my family? I started to panic. Maybe this was not such a good idea after all. I should turn around.  
But it was already too late. I hadn’t realised that as I’d been panicking my feet had been carrying me forward, until I stood at the entrance of the café. As soon as I’d entered, a perky blonde from a table at the back started waving at me enthusiastically. Realising it was too late to back out now, I started walking towards her. She smiled at me, as if we’d known each other for a long time, and her smile put me at ease slightly. 

“Hi! I’m Kara Danvers, I’m the reporter who’s been emailing you. I’m so glad you showed up!” She said it all without taking a breath, her smile becoming impossibly bigger as she talked. “I’m so sorry, I ramble when I’m nervous. Not that I’m nervous because of you, of course not! You seem really nice, it’s just-this is my first article, and I really want to do well-I want them to make me a reporter permanently.” I laughed. “I’m Lena Luthor. It’s nice to meet you.” “Oh, yes, of course! It’s so nice to meet you too, Ms Luthor.” “Oh, you can call me Lena.” I said. By this point, my nerves had vanished almost completely. It was impossible to think that this reporter would cause harm to even a fly.

“So about the article?” “Yes, of course!” She said, slightly embarrassed. “So I wanted to write about what it’s like for scholarship students at NCU. I’m not going to focus on the academic side, since that’s been researched extensively. I believe scholarship students on average get a GPA that is higher by 0.5 points?” I nodded at that, not sure what she wanted me to do. I’d heard this number many times during the acceptance procedure, but agreeing with her too enthusiastically would make it seem like I thought I was better than everyone else, when in fact I just worked hard because I had more to lose than the rest of them.

“Right.” She continued. “Well, I’m interested in how being labelled as a scholarship students has affected your student life at NCU. So let’s start with the basics. What year are you currently in, and what are you studying?” “I’m currently in my second year, and I’m majoring in psychology, with a minor in Ancient language and culture.” I glimpsed a slight smile when I mentioned my minor, despite her trying to keep her face as neutral as possible. “And how do people react when you mention you are here on a scholarship?” “Well, being a scholarship student is not a large part of my identity, so I don’t go around just telling people that I’m here on a scholarship.” She nodded at that understandingly, while scribbling away on a notepad. “Whenever it does come up, I find that people generally respond very casually. It doesn’t seem to matter to them, and they don’t treat me any differently because of it. However, I did find that for some people it is an irreconcilable difference.” She wrote for a while longer in her notebook, only looking up when she realised I had stopped talking.

She looked at me with a soft smile. “Would you perhaps care to elaborate? It’s fine if you don’t want to, I would understand. “No, it’s okay. I got over it a long time ago. So in my first year, there was this girl who lived in my dormitory. She had some of the same interests as I did, and we became close friends quite quickly. She even invited me to go with her and her family to Greece during spring break. I told her that I couldn’t afford to go, since I was here on a scholarship. I thought she knew. After that she suddenly stopped responding to my texts, and whenever I ran into her in our dormitory she would ignore me. That’s when I realised that there are people for whom the fact that I don’t have much money is more important than who I am.”

I looked down at my hands as I finished my story. It had happened a while ago, but I still didn’t like reliving it. Afterwards, I had felt ashamed. Mostly, I’d felt ashamed that I even felt any shame at all: after all, I had nothing to be ashamed of. A light touch brought me out of my thoughts. Kara had placed her hand on one of my hands. I looked up at her. “I’m so sorry.” She said sincerely. I opened my mouth to say that it was fine, that nothing had happened, but she cut me off. “What that girl did to you was terrible. Of course you are more important than your money. You’re a smart, talented person, and you deserve to be here at least as much as the other students. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.” I looked down at my hands again as she said that, but this time it was in gratitude and mild embarrassment. After she’d finished, I looked up at her again. I smiled to express my thanks, and she seemed to get it. She nodded as she took her hand away from mine. “Now, let’s get back to those questions.”

“Many scholarship students also have a job on the side to cover other expenses, such as food and clothes. Do you yourself have a job as well?” Clearly, she had gone back to an easier line of questioning, not wanting to ask any more difficult questions. “I do. I tutor high school kids in several subjects.” “And how does your job influence your academic and social life?” “Well, I teach between eight and ten hours per week, so that does mean I’m usually very busy. I have to plan my time well in order to be able to keep up with both my courses and my job. It also means I don’t often have time for social activities, sadly. I am a member of the classical literature committee on campus, but that is the only group I’ve been able to join. I was thinking of joining the newspaper, actually.’ I said the last part impulsively. It’s not that it wasn’t true; I had been considering joining for a while. But there was something about this reporter that made me want to make her happy.

When I said it, she looked up, smiling. “We would be lucky to have you. Just don’t be too good, or I’ll you’ll steal my job from me!” I laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” We said there for a bit, smiling at each other, and I was suddenly glad I hadn’t run away and missed the interview. “Well, that’s all the questions I had so far. Thank you so much!” “It was my pleasure, Ms Danvers.” “Oh please, call me Kara.” “Very well, Kara. If you have any other questions, do feel free to contact me.” I shook her hand and left the café, barely making it to my first class of the day.


	2. Mystery Trip

In the following days, I didn’t hear anything from Kara. I found myself checking my mailbox more frequently as I went about my day, despite knowing that it was irrational. She’d needed an interview from me for her article, and that was all. There was no reason to suppose from our brief Monday morning conversation that we would become friends. But that wasn’t entirely true, at least not from my side. I’d told her about my incident with Elizabeth the previous year, which I hadn’t told anyone else. There was something about her that immediately made me feel so comfortable with her that it was as if we’d been friends for years. But she was probably that nice to everyone. After all, she’d already waved at me with a big grin before we’d ever even met. 

So I tried to go about my week as usual. But it was harder than before, for some reason. I’d gotten used to my busy schedule which rarely allowed time for meaningful interaction, but it was suddenly like I missed it again after my meeting with the blonde. I even thought about calling home, which was ridiculous. It wasn’t as if I would find any human warmth there.

Two weeks passed without any contact from Kara, and I was slowly beginning to resign myself to never seeing her again. On the second Tuesday, the article came out in the newspaper. I read it as soon as possible, actually going down to the print room to get my hands on a copy as soon as it was released. The article was clearly well written. Kara had absolutely no reason to worry about anyone stealing her position as a reporter. She’d included the story about Elizabeth, which was harder for me than I’d expected. After all, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t known I was giving an interview. But I understood why she’d chosen to add it to the article. It was an important element, which made the story more personal. Otherwise it would’ve been quite a dry account of the boring life of a scholarship student, I thought to myself. But she’d kept both me and Elizabeth anonymous, which meant that the only person who could have any idea who the article was talking about was Elizabeth herself, and I doubted she even read the student newspaper. 

Half an hour later, as I checked my email, more out of habit than from actually expecting to receive any emails, I suddenly noticed an email from Kara. I almost dropped my phone out of excitement. 

“Dear Lena,  
You told me to contact you if I had any further questions.” I felt a surge of disappointment. Of course, the only thing she wanted from me was more information. Perhaps she’d decided to write another article. I felt foolish for having gotten my hopes up. After all, there really wasn’t any reason for me to think that Kara would email me because of something else. It wasn’t like we were friends, much as I might have wanted it to be true.

“I was wondering what you thought about the article. Of course, I understand if you haven’t had the chance to read it yet, but I’d really like to hear your thoughts. Would you perhaps be willing to meet with me to talk it over? If so, maybe we can find a better place than the dingy university café.  
Best wishes,  
Kara.”

I started to smile as I read the rest of the email, and by the end, there was a full-blown grin on my face. Perhaps I wasn’t the only one who wanted to be friends after all.  
I waited an excruciating five minutes before writing my reply. I definitely did not want Kara to know I had been waiting almost desperately for any word from her. I was not willing to risk her reconsidering and not wanting to meet with me anymore.

“Dear Kara,  
It would be my pleasure. Of course I’ve already read your article, and I can objectively say there is nothing which can threaten your position as a reporter.  
Best wishes,  
Lena”

I received a reply within minutes, Kara clearly having no reservations about seeming overeager.

“Dear Lena,  
That is very kind of you to say. Shall we meet next Saturday? I know a nice place we can go.  
Kara  
P.S. If we’re going to be communicating on a regular basis, maybe it would be easier if we just exchanged numbers.”

I smiled at that, and quickly emailed her my number. But I didn’t have any more time to text Kara after that; I had to get to my job. Even though my Wednesday tutoring session was usually my favourite, both because Latin was my favourite subject to teach and the girl I was tutoring was very nice, I found myself unusually distracted that day. Every time I thought about Saturday, I got a nervously excited feeling in my stomach. Kara had sounded very mysterious in her email, and I had no idea where it was she could be taking me. Usually, I was quite adept at being patient (unless it came to finding out grades). But those two days before I saw Kara again somehow seemed like an eternity.

On Friday morning, I decided to go shopping. I didn’t usually buy many clothes, since my financial situation was already precarious. But for some reason I felt like there was no way I could wear any of the clothes I already owned to my outing with Kara. So I wandered around the stores, looking for something which was both affordable and which I thought Kara would like. My usual wardrobe included mostly neutral tones, but the only time I’d seen the blonde she’d been wearing a flower patterned blouse over wine-coloured pants, so I decided to look for something more colourful to wear. A store attendant interrupted my musings. “Can I help you with something?” “Thank you, I’m fine.” I declined politely. But the clerk wouldn’t let himself be discouraged. “Looking for something for a special occasion? A date, perhaps?” “No, not a date.” I said, slightly less politely. My personal life was none of his business, and why did everything have to be about romance anyway?

I left the store and decided to try my luck elsewhere. I ended up buying a light-pink blouse with owls printed all over it. It definitely seemed like the kind of thing Kara would like, although I usually wasn’t too much into pinkish shades. Not that there was anything wrong with pink; I found the notion that liking a certain colour was somehow linked to intelligence or bravery absolutely preposterous. But the owls I liked: they always reminded me of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. She was by far my favourite out of all of the Olympians.

I had trouble falling asleep that night. I tried to blame it on an especially gruesome episode of Lucifer that I had watched that day, but I knew the real reason was my meeting with Kara. I couldn’t understand why I was suddenly so nervous; I didn’t usually feel like that around other people. But Kara was so smart and such a good writer, and I just wanted her to like me.

I woke up the next morning, not remembering when I’d finally managed to fall asleep. I was terribly drowsy at first and cursed myself for going to bed that late, until I realised what day it was. That shocked me wide awake. Kara and I weren’t set to meet until 3 pm, but I still had a lot of things to do. I usually used Saturday morning to catch up on cleaning and doing laundry. I was lucky those tasks where completely automatic and required almost no cognitive input, because I could not have written an essay that morning even if my life depended on it.

Time seemed to move incredibly slowly, until finally it was 3 pm. Kara and I had agreed to meet at the gates of the college. I still had no idea where we were going. When I got to the gates, Kara was already there, waiting for me. Once again, she waved at me enthusiastically. She was all bundled up against the cold wind, with a pink and blue patterned scarf and a hat to match it. I’d been right to assume that she liked bright colours. “Hi Lena!” She said excitedly as I walked towards her. “Hey.” I said, suddenly feeling a bit shy. It had been so easy to talk to Kara that first day, but somehow I felt awkward around her this time.

“So how was your week?’ She asked. She asked it like she actually meant it, not like everyone else who just asked it out of politeness and routine. It made me feel like giving a more elaborate answer than the usual “Alright.” “It was normal, I suppose. I had an essay due in Ancient History which I actually kind of struggled with, because it was about a painting, and I don’t really know anything about art.” I always felt like I was supposed to be more cultured, to know a lot about art and to go to museums and enjoy them, but I could never quite see the point. I enjoyed Greek and Roman art, especially depictions of mythology, and I liked beautiful paintings. But I never really liked art which wasn’t beautiful, even though I understood it could be intriguing and inspiring.

“If you ever need any help with that, I’d be glad to do it. I’m actually minoring in Art History.” Kara said, and I suddenly realised that I had no idea what she was studying. We’d spent so much time talking about me during the last meeting, that I didn’t actually know much about Kara herself, except for the fact that she liked bright colours. “So what is it you’re studying? You never told me.” Kara laughed, apparently also surprised that she hadn’t actually told me much about herself. “Sorry, I didn’t realise. I’m studying Journalism and Literature, with a minor in Art History.” “Sounds like writing is really your thing.” I said. I’d written many stories as a child, but with the academically mandated writing I didn’t actually have much time to write for pleasure.

“I suppose you could say that, yes.” Kara said, contemplatively. “You know, and this is going to sound really cheesy, but I just want to help people in whatever way I can. And I think that writing is the best way to do that for me. Get people’s stories out there, that sort of thing.” She laughed then, embarrassed. “I know, it’s such a cliché. College student who wants to change the world.” “No, no, not at all!” I quickly reassured her. I couldn’t believe she was embarrassed about such a good and pure thing. “I actually think it’s quite admirable.” She looked at me with a hopeful, vulnerable look. “You really think that?” “Yes, of course! Helping people is the noblest of causes, how could it not be? And besides, I know you really mean it. The actual cliché is college students who say they want to change the world, but really just want to spend their life partying and getting drunk. Not that there’s anything wrong with a bit of partying, life, and especially life as a student, should also be fun. But there also needs to be something more. And I think it’s great you have a passion.” I stopped then, slightly embarrassed. It wasn’t usually my habit to hold such passionate speeches, but I couldn’t believe Kara was putting herself down for believing in something good. And I meant every word.

Kara smiled at me gratefully, then suddenly took a sharp turn to the left. As we’d been talking, I hadn’t been aware of my surroundings. I hadn’t noticed where we were going, until suddenly Kara led me into a small alley. “We’re here!” She announced with a dramatic flourish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it, please let me know if you want me to contiue uploading this story :) I love reading comments and they always make my day.


	3. Too Much Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christmas really hits in this one!

I didn’t have to ask where “here” was. It was absolutely impossible to miss. Right there in the alley was a tiny café, decorated in the brightest of reds and greens. I had never seen so much Christmas in one place. I stood there for a moment, awestruck. The entire window had been painted with white chalk to look like a small Christmas town, and from where I was standing I could see at least five Christmas trees, which filled up the miniscule room. “Come on!” Kara said excitedly, tugging me inside. Once we got there, a gigantic smile filled her face. “Welcome to Christmas Central!” From inside, it was even more overwhelming. It was as if someone had stuffed the entire set of a Hallmark Christmas movie into one room. 

The tables were all bright red, with a leg that was painted in the pattern of a candy cane. And each table had its own Christmas tree, decorated individually so that no two Christmas trees were the same. The counter was covered in so much tinsel that one would actually think it was made of the material, and the walls were covered in murals of nativity scenes. There were baubles on the ceiling instead of lights. 

Kara led me to a table beside a tree with a set of eclectic, brightly coloured baubles. “This tree is my absolute favourite.” She said, gazing at it in wonder. “Every bauble has its own individual story. The owners brought them back from all over the world. See this one?” She pointed at a bright purple, glittery peacock ornament. I nodded. “This one was handmade in the Czech Republic. There’s not any one exactly like it in the whole world.” “I want to have a Christmas tree like that one day.” I said, and as I spoke the words out loud I realised how profoundly true they were. I’d always liked the nice, neat trees with a theme and colours that complimented each other. But suddenly this seemed so much better. A tree full of baubles that each carried a special memory, perhaps handmade by the kids whose tree it was. 

“Me too.” Kara said, smiling softly. Somehow it seemed like she had understood the deeper meaning behind my words; that what I really wanted was not just the tree itself, but also the memories that came with it. Especially the memories. “Take a look at the menu, it’s incredible!” Kara urged me. I picked it up. It seemed as if the menu itself smelled like Christmas, the aromas of pine, gingerbread and orange, as I listed through the pages. I couldn’t believe there was anyone creative enough to make a whole menu full of Christmas food and drinks. Every single item on the menu was Christmas themed.

There were the more traditional things, such as gingerbread lattes and spice cookies, but there was also Christmas ice cream (with flavours ranging from gingerbread to pine tree) and Christmas rice, with cinnamon and cranberries. I decided to order a gingerbread hot chocolate, just to be on the safe side, and a Christmas panini with marshmallows and cranberries as my slightly more adventurous item. Kara ordered Christmas broth. 

After we’d order our food from an elderly woman dressed in a Mrs Claus costume, I decided to look at the menu to see what Kara had actually ordered. “Cranberries, orange peel, cinnamon sticks.” I read. “Doesn’t actually look to weird.” Kara smiled mischievously, and I looked back at the menu. “Pine twigs. Okay, I take it back. This is definitely weird.” Kara laughed. “Trust me, it’s really good.” And I did trust her, not just about her crazy broth.

“So how did you find this place anyway?” I asked. I’d never heard about it before, and it seemed like something which would be wildly popular if a lot of people knew about it. “ My sister brought me here, actually. That is the only way anyone ever finds it. It’s only here during December, and it doesn’t exist on the internet. So you can only find out about it if you know someone else who knows about it. For me, it was my sister, Alex.” After she told me, I felt even more special that she’d brought me here. “Christmas is kind of a big deal in the Danvers family, actually.” I laughed. “I can tell.” I said, pointing at the Christmas sweater she was wearing.

The background colour of the sweater was off-white, but it was covered in a blue and red print which was slightly reminiscent of Scandinavian winter sweaters. It also had red sequined Christmas trees on the front. I actually found myself quite liking the sweater. It was very clearly Christmas themed, but it was also subtle, so that you could were it to everyday occasions. Unlike the baubled, sequined Christmas sweaters with terrible pictures and lights that actually lit up, which could be seen all across campus during the annual ugly Christmas sweater competition. Kara laughed. “Oh, this one? I have to confess, Christmas sweaters are actually kind of an obsession of mine. I have about ten, and I still can’t resist buying new ones when they come into the stores.” Now it was my turn to laugh. “Any other crazy obsessions that I should know about?”

“Well, let me think.” She said, placing a finger on her chin and staring up at the ceiling faux-contemplatively. Her rimmed glasses reflected the Christmas lights, making her look for a second like the Christmas trees she was so fond of. “Ohh, I know one!” She said excitedly. “Once Upon a Time!” “Oh, I used to love that show! The first few seasons were really good, but then it sort of went downhill.” Kara shrugged. “Yeah, I know. But once I find something I like, I stick to it, you know? Through thick and thin. What can I say, I’m just a loyal person.” We both laughed at how ridiculous she sounded, making continuing to watch a show even after the quality got worse sound like some trial of loyalty. “Maybe we can watch it together sometime, help you catch up.” Kara suggested. “Yes, that sounds great!” Suddenly, I didn’t care that the show had gotten progressively worse. As long as Kara was there, I was pretty sure I could even watch a laundry machine doing laundry for hours.

“So anyway,” Kara said, suddenly twirling her fork nervously. “What did you think of the article?” I realised that we hadn’t actually talked about the article yet, despite it being the reason behind our meeting. “I thought it was very well written.” I said, struggling to come up with something more precise, something which better expressed just how great a writer I thought Kara was. “I especially liked the way you interlaced facts and statistics with a more personal side of the story. And of course the end, where you called for increased scholarship funds. It really makes a big difference to a lot of people.” I smiled at Kara encouragingly, hoping she understood that I meant every word. She smiled back at me softly. “Thank you Lena, so much. And also for doing the interview, I really couldn’t have done it without you.” 

Our moment of mutual appreciation was interrupted by Mrs Claus returning with our orders. As the scents wafted up into my nose, I suddenly realised how hungry I’d been. “Oh, this smells divine!” Kara laughed. “Wait until you taste it!” 

The food truly looked and smelled incredible. But as I saw Kara’s simple broth, I realised I should have ordered something with less sugar and less calories. The holidays were always a time for overeating, as my mother liked to remind me. I tried a small bite of my panini, and couldn’t help a slight moan of appreciation escaping my mouth. Kara looked at me, smiling and not judging me in the slightest. “The best, right?” I nodded fervently with my mouth full. After I’d swallowed, I said :”The marshmallows are perfectly melted, slightly sticky. And oh, those cranberries! Their sourness is the perfect contrast to the sweetness of the marshmallows.” “It’s actually one of my favourites.” Kara said. “But I love this broth even more. It’s like Christmas in a bowl, and perfect to warm you up on a cold winter’s day. Want to try some?” I nodded eagerly. I was very curious to try the broth, and if Kara said it was good I had no doubt it would be.

She held up a spoon full of broth, and I hesitated for a second, not sure what I was supposed to do. It seemed she meant to put the spoon into my mouth, but what if she just meant to hand the spoon to me? Then it would be terribly awkward. In the end, I decided to just open my mouth. Any sense of embarrassment quickly disappeared as the taste filled my mouth. It tasted a little like the Christmas tea my first foster mother had used to make around Christmas time.   
“So good.” I said, after I swallowed it. I was sure I was going to order that next time. It was really tasty, but also not too unhealthy. I took another bite of the panini. It was truly divine, and I could almost not tear myself away from it. But I knew it was for the best. “You want the rest? I’m actually really full.” I told Kara. “Are you sure? I thought you liked it.” “I do, I love it. I just had a big breakfast, that’s all. I really can’t eat any more.” “Alright, well then I’ll be happy to finish it.” Kara said, tucking in with a grin. It seemed she had no reservations about the sugar she was consuming. 

“So what were the holidays like at your house?” Kara asked after taking another bite of the panini. “I’m sure it wasn’t as amazing as the Danvers family Christmas extravaganza, but it probably wasn’t too bad, either.” She said the words jokingly, clearly expecting a nice story about special Christmas traditions that were unique to my family.

“I’m sure yours were way better.” I said matter of factly. She looked up. “What? No, I was just kidding. You must’ve had good Christmases too.” “Not really, actually. My parents died when I was four, and so I don’t remember any Christmases with them.” Kara looked at me softly, putting her hand on my arm. “I’m so sorry, Lena. I had no idea.” I laughed slightly to make her feel more comfortable. Talking to Kara about it actually felt okay. “How could you have? I don’t really talk about it much.” 

“What about after that?” Kara said, clearly hopeful. “Of course, it must’ve been really hard without your parents at first. My parents actually died when I was thirteen, too. But the Danvers took me in and made sure that every Christmas was a special one where I knew that I was loved, while giving me space to think about my parents as well.” I thought of my own foster mother, who had definitely made no such efforts. Maybe she would’ve if I’d been as kind as Kara. 

I looked down at my hands. “Not really, actually. I ended up with a foster family that wasn’t very nice to me. They gave me clothes and a roof over my head, but other than that I was on my own. That’s why I worked so hard in school to get a scholarship to NCU and to finally leave my foster mom behind.”   
“That was so brave of you.” Kara said, admiration clear in her voice. I looked up. I could tell from her face that she meant it. I’d never thought of myself as brave for moving here. After all, if I’d just been a better daughter, just been better, then this might’ve never happened to me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Lena is being really hard on herself here, but Kara is there to help, I promise.


	4. Spring Rolls for Christmas

“And as for Christmas? We’ll just have to make this one extra special.” The way she was looking at me almost made me feel actually warm inside. Her head was tilted, and her radiant blond hair was framing her face. Her eyes were soft, and kind, and she looked at me like I was worth it, like I deserved it. “It already is special.” I confessed softly. And it was true. This December had started off better than any other ever had.

After we’d finished our food and drinks, we walked back to campus. The air was crisp and just exactly the right temperature for winter. The sun was shining, and it was the perfect winter weather, at least for me. I got cold very easily, and always wore three hoodies layered on top of each other around the house this time of year, but there was something about that exact air that made me feel like it was really Christmastime. It filled me with a new kind of energy, an energy to not just do what had to be done, but to go further. To finally get to the sewing projects that I’d been thinking about for the entire year, and to write a new story for the first time in years.

As I looked at Kara, all bundled up in her colourful clothes, a bright beacon against the dull grey all around us, it occurred to me that perhaps the air was not what was causing my sudden change in motivation after all. There was something inspiring about the girl. She made me want to write the stories about her and sew the craft projects for her. She made me want to join the newspaper and become a reporter. She made me want to be the best possible version of myself, the one that I so clearly saw reflected in her eyes.  
“Any plans for the weekend?” She interrupted my thoughts. “Not really. I just have to catch up on schoolwork. I’ve been really busy at work. All the parents want their kids well prepared for finals.” I smiled. The extra work meant that I was busier than usual, but it also meant I had just a little more money to spare on the festivities that surrounded Christmastime. “What about you?” I asked her. “My mom is visiting tomorrow, actually.” She said. “That sounds like fun!” I said. As much as I despised my own mother, it was clear Mrs Danvers was nothing like her. 

“It is. I haven’t seen her in a couple of weeks. She lives in a town close to here, just a two-hour drive. But I don’t have a car, so I don’t go down there very often, unless my sister takes me. We’re going Christmas shopping tomorrow, actually. It’s always the first thing we do before the holidays.” “Really, you need any more Christmas sweaters?” I teased. Kara laughed. “Well, they’re different every year! And besides, we’re also shopping for decorations.” “And I’m supposed to believe you don’t already own enough of those?” I asked pointedly. She laughed. “Guilty as charged.” “Well, have fun!” I said, as we neared the gates of the college, where we would go our separate ways. “Thank you! I’m sure we will. You good luck with your studies! I’ll see you soon?” “Yeah, for sure.” I smiled.

As she walked away, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. I was quite sure Kara would be unlike any other friend I’d ever had, and I was incredibly happy that she seemed to actually want to be friends with me. My mood was slightly dampened when I walked into my room and saw the gigantic stack of work on my desk that I had to get done. As I set down to get it over with, I realised just how bare the walls were. After having spent so much time in a shop that looked as if someone had thrown up Christmas all over it, my own empty walls suddenly seemed quite sad. I resolved that as soon as my latest pay check was transferred, I would go out and buy myself some Christmas decorations. I really couldn’t live like this any longer, especially if there was any chance of Kara coming over and seeing my room.

I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on homework, only stopping to make myself a light dinner. After the food I’d had at the café, I knew I really shouldn’t eat any more than a simple kale salad. I decided that it would also be best if I went for a quick session at the university gym. 

The gym was blissfully empty when I arrived. I always felt a little self-conscious when exercising. My pale complexion made that I turned bright red even after a small exertion. As I ran on the treadmill, I thought about Kara. There was something different about her. I’d had friends, of course. But none like Kara, who made me feel like I could tell her anything and she would actually listen. I was overwhelmed by a surge of happiness at the fact that I’d been lucky enough to meet her, and even more that she actually wanted to be friends with me too. The feeling of happiness lasted the rest of the evening, until I went to bed.

I couldn’t help but think of Kara in the days that followed. Every time I saw a girl with blond hair, I momentarily thought it was her. And every time I saw someone with a Christmas sweater now, I had to smile. Maybe I’d have to buy myself one too, I thought.

By Wednesday, I was getting slightly worried that I hadn’t actually heard anything from Kara. What if she no longer wanted to be friends with me? I’d thought her showing me the café had meant something special, but perhaps I’d imagined it. Or maybe after she’d heard the sob story of my past, she’d decided that she didn’t want to hang out with someone with so much baggage. I couldn’t really blame her if that was it.

On Thursday, I suddenly realised something which should have been obvious to me all along: I didn’t have to wait for Kara to reach out; I could text her myself. After all, she’d been the one who had initiated contact the last few times. What if she was simply waiting for me like I was waiting for her? Although I doubted sincerely that the blonde was being plagued by self-doubt the way I was. With her radiant personality, I was sure she had many other friends to spend her time with.

“Dear Kara, I was wondering if perhaps you wanted to help me catch up on Once Upon A Time? Only if you want to, of course. Please don’t feel obligated to come. Lena.”  
I stared at the phone for a full ten minutes, nervously awaiting a reply. Then it occurred to me that perhaps Kara was in class; it was very well possible that she had different timeslots than I had. And I was sure Kara was not the kind of person who had a phone out during class. So I decided to go to the gym again to distract myself.

When I got back from the gym, a reply was already waiting for me. “Hey Lena! Sounds like fun, how about Friday night?” I knew the smile that filled my face at her message was absolutely ridiculous. We were just friends watching a tv series together. I had no idea why I was so excited about that. “Friday night works for me! Shall I cook dinner for the both of us?” “That would be terribly kind of you. See you Friday then!” 

Even though I had an essay due on modern representations of Greek mythology, I immediately went online to look for a recipe for dinner. The kitchens in our dorms were meagre at best, so I usually stuck to salads when I was eating by myself, and as I didn’t usually entertain people, that was most of the time. But I wanted to make something much nicer for Kara. 

An hour and a half later, I found a recipe for spring rolls with winter vegetables. I knew that if I put in some effort, I could make them look nice, and it was also a great recipe to make in advance. Luckily for me, it was also a relatively light and healthy dinner. 

I was slightly appalled by the cost of the groceries, as I left the supermarket on Friday morning. I’d decided to go for organic vegetables, not wanting us to ingest too many chemicals, but they’d turned out to be quite expensive. I’d have to try and schedule some extra hours of work to make up for it.

But the look on Kara’s face as she saw the rolls instantly made any extra effort worth it. She’d arrived at 5 pm on the dot, dressed in another brightly decorated Christmas sweater. According to her, she was positively starving, so we decided to start with dinner.

She looked at me incredulously. “You made those?” She said, picking one up with awe. I nodded, almost blushing with pride. I’d decided to cut the vegetables out in Christmas shapes at the last minute, and I had to admit they looked adorable. There were carrots shaped like falling stars, green peppers shaped like Christmas trees, and even tiny stars made of avocado.

“These are way too pretty to eat! How long did it take you to make these?” “Oh, just a couple of hours.” I shrugged it off. “Well, they look absolutely magnificent.” Kara said resolutely. “I just hope they taste good too. Dig in, you said you were hungry.” I smiled, watching her take her first bite. The sauce dripped down her chin, but she didn’t seem to care. “Absolutely delicious!” She exclaimed with her mouth still full. “Come on, try some!” I picked up another roll and took a bite. It was better than I’d expected. I’d have to remember this one.

After we finished dinner, Kara eating five spring rolls, me only three, we decided to go to my room to watch Once Upon A Time. “It’s not much, I know.” I said, as we entered the room. While all the students who lived on campus technically had the same room, many had added abundant decorations. My room was bare in comparison. But I liked it that way. Less clutter meant less distractions.

“No, it’s perfect.” Kara said. “Oh, you even added Christmas lights! Those are really pretty.” I smiled again. I seemed to be smiling a lot around Kara, but I just couldn’t help it. She was like my own personal sun, lighting up my life whenever she was around.

We watched several episodes of Once Upon A Time, and then afterwards chatted about the show for a long time. Kara’s favourite character, unsurprisingly, was Belle. “Well, she’s always kind to everyone. And she’s willing to give Gold a second chance.” “And a third. And a fourth. And a fifth.” I said pointedly. Kara laughed. “Well then, who’s you’re favourite?” “The Evil Queen, of course.” I said. “Her heart is broken, and she makes many mistakes. But in the end, she is redeemed. She becomes a good person. It shows that people can change, which is really important.” “Well, can’t Gold change too?” She said teasingly. I threw a pillow at her.

After we’d chatted for another half hour, Kara announced that she should get going, seeing as she had an article due the next day. I walked her to the door. “Thank you so much for the food.” She said, smiling. “No problem. We should do this again sometime.” Kara nodded. “Next time, I’ll cook. Deal?” “Deal.” I said, ecstatic that there was going to be a next time. “Good night then, Lena.” Kara said, opening her arms for a hug. I hugged her, hesitantly at first, then more surely as I felt her strong arms wrapped around me. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had hugged me like this. Had hugged me at all.

Kara held on a bit longer, feeling that I really needed the hug. I broke it off after almost a minute, knowing that I should let her go but also knowing I’d be perfectly content to hold on to her like that forever.


	5. Babysitter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I decided to just upload everything I've written so far. Hope you like it!

I slept better that night than I’d had in months. When I woke up, feeling absolutely refreshed and ready to tackle another day, I couldn’t remember my dreams, except for the fact that they’d featured Kara, her smiling face clear in my memory. I decided to use my newfound energy to get as much work done as possible. Since I had lectures and my job during the week, I usually used the weekends to study and to clean. For that reason, the weekend didn’t necessarily feel like a break from the week, the way that it was for other people. But that day, I didn’t care at all. It was as if I was walking on clouds, and nothing could bring my mood down. 

On Sunday, I saw that the company I worked at had transferred me my latest paycheck. I smiled. I’d worked a lot in November, and so I had a little bit of money left, even after taking the rent into consideration. I decided to go properly Christmas shopping that week. Part of me wanted to invite Kara, to spend as much time with her as possible. But even though I’d made more money than expected, I still had to constantly watch the price of everything. I knew that having Kara around would just make that much more difficult for myself.

On Monday, Kara texted me again. I still got excited whenever her name popped up on the screen, even though it was becoming clear that we’d really be friends. “Hey Lena! How about we make it a tradition, and we meet again on Friday? My place this time?” I laughed. Kara clearly wasn’t one to hesitate. If she wanted something, she went for it, not caring what other people thought. I wished I was more like that. 

“Hey Kara.” I texted back. I didn’t usually begin texts to anyone with ‘hey’, and it somehow felt very familiar and intimate. I knew then already that Kara would be the only person I’d begin texts to that way. “I would love that. I’ll be there on Friday!” I sent the text quickly, not wanting to reconsider. ‘I would love that’ was a little extreme. It wasn’t usually the kind of language I used, but I really did mean it with Kara.

On Friday afternoon, I looked at myself in the mirror. I smiled at my reflection. I didn’t usually like my appearance much, my arms which were always too pale no matter how much time I spent in the sun, and my thighs always broader than I’d liked them to be. But that day, going to meet Kara, I actually felt good in my own skin. I’d splurged on a proper Christmas sweater dress. It was off-white, with short sleeves and a high collar. It featured the silhouette of two reindeer facing each other on the chest, had large snowflakes on the sleeves and bottom, and little hearts filled the rest of the space. I’d put a wide red belt around my waist to give the dress a little more shape, and I was wearing bright red lipstick to match it. The outfit was Christmassy, but still quite nice and subtle. Except for the gaudy hairclips which I’d found at Target. They were absolutely ridiculous, but I knew Kara would like them. They were green and glittery, with tiny red bows and actual little bells which made sounds when I walked. I’d seen them in the discount bin and simply hadn’t been able to resist. I chalked it up to all those Christmases I’d missed as a child.

As I grabbed my coat, my phone suddenly rang. The usual surge of excitement at seeing Kara’s name on the display went through my body, before being replaced by a sense of dread. What if Kara suddenly didn’t want to see me anymore? I picked up the phone, a heavy feeling in my stomach. “Hey, it’s Kara.” I heard on the other end. I could immediately sense from her apologetic tone of voice that something was wrong. “I’m really sorry, but something’s come up.” I sighed, resigned. I’d been a fool for thinking Kara was different. Of course she didn’t want to be friends with me. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” I forced myself to say, trying to sound friendly. “I was really looking forward to tonight, but then my sister called.” She started to explain. “Her babysitter just fell ill, and she can’t find anyone else on such short notice. So I’ll have to watch her daughter.” The heavy feeling in my stomach lifted slightly. It seemed that Kara actually had a real emergency. “Of course, if your sister needs you, you should help her.” I said, this time succeeding in sounding earnest.

“I’m really sorry, I would’ve loved for you to come over. Unless you still want to?” She said suddenly excited as it occurred to her. “I know babysitting a six year old isn’t necessarily the perfect Friday night, but you’re welcome to join.” My frown started to turn into a smile. “Yes, of course!” I said, suddenly excited. “I love little kids! And as long as she’s your cousin, I’m sure she’ll be a joy.” “Well, she’s actually adopted.” Kara laughed. “But yes, she’s great, most of the time. But I’m really glad you still want to come, see you in twenty minutes?” “Yes, definitely! I’ll be there.” I told her, then hung up the phone. Our evening wasn’t exactly going as planned, but I didn’t mind as long as Kara was there. And what I’d told her was true; I did like little kids. They were always so comically honest.

Kara texted me the address of her sister’s apartment, which was in the centre of town. It was a bit further than I’d expected, and since I didn’t have a car, I had to walk there. So I arrived half an hour later. On the door of the apartment was a complicated Christmas wreath, so I was sure I had the right address. It had to be a Danvers sister living here. I rang the doorbell, and twenty seconds later Kara was at the door. She had a big grin on her face, and her hair was all messy. She was wearing a red coat which was slightly too big for her, and had what looked like toilet paper taped to her chin. I couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s going on here?” “Emmy decided we should play Christmas, and I’m supposed to be Santa Claus.” “Well, you’re certainly the prettiest Santa Claus I’ve ever seen.” Before I could fully realise what I’d said, there was a flurry of movement beside the door. “Aunt Kara! Come inside, you’re making it all cold!” I heard a little girl’s voice say.

Kara smiled at me, then gestured for me to come inside. “The princess has spoken.” I walked into the apartment. It was almost as abundantly decorated as the Christmas café had been, much like I had expected. But I didn’t have much time to survey the space, as it seemed Emmy had finally noticed my presence. She looked at me curiously. “Who are you? I’ve never seen you before. You’re very pretty.” She said. She said it all very factually and it warmed my heart. “You’re very pretty too. I’m Lena, I’m a friend of your aunt Kara.” “I’m Emmy.” She said, then she flung herself into my arms for a hug.

I was slightly taken off guard by her embrace. I didn’t usually hug people right upon meeting them. But then again, Emmy was only a child. I didn’t really know what to do, though. I didn’t mind her hugging me, but I didn’t want Kara to think it was weird. But then Emmy ended the embrace and ran off into another room. “Sorry about that.” Kara said. “She can be a bit of a handful sometimes. But she’s really sweet, I promise.” I smiled at her to show that it was okay. “She seems really sweet. Where has she run off to?” Kara shrugged. “No idea.”

It became clear when Emmy returned soon after with a pair of felt antlers in her hands. “Come Lena, you can play with us. Aunt Kara can be Santa Claus, and you can be a reindeer.” She tugged at my hand to lower my head towards her so she could put the antlers on. I felt slightly ridiculous, but then I looked at Kara’s costume and realised that it could’ve been way worse. “And what will you be?” I asked her. “I’m going to be an elf.” She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

We played like that for almost an hour. At first, I’d felt slightly self-conscious, crawling around the floor on all fours. But after a while I got more comfortable, especially seeing Kara completely immersed in her role. She didn’t seem to care the slightest bit, and it made sense because the only ones to see her were me, her friend, and her six year old niece. After an hour, Emmy was completely worn out. “You look tired, my little Elf.” Kara said as she hoisted the girl onto her lap. “How about we put you to bed?” The little girl shook her head vehemently. “No, no bed! I’m not tired, look at me! I have my eyes wide open!” She turned around to face Kara, her eyes comically wide. Kara laughed.

“Alright then. How about I make my special hot cocoa and we can watch a movie?” “Yes!” Emmy said, clapping her hands excitedly. She looked at me solemnly. “You know, my Auntie Kara makes the best hot cocoa in the whole world.” “Oh does she now?” I said, looking at Kara teasingly. “Well, I’ll definitely have to try some in that case.” Kara laughed. “Sadly, I can’t tell you the recipe. It’s top secret.” She said, winking at me. Then she turned around to face Emmy. “How about you pick a movie while aunt Kara makes the hot chocolate?” Emmy nodded enthusiastically as Kara disappeared into the kitchen. 

Emmy didn’t take much time to decide. “I want to watch Elf!” She shouted, loud enough for Kara to hear all the way in the kitchen. “Elf for an Elf.” Kara said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “You know, I haven’t actually ever seen that movie.” I confessed to Emmy. She looked at me with wide eyes. “Never? Didn’t your parents ever watch it with you?” I looked down. “My parents never celebrated Christmas much.” “My mommies always watch all the movies with me. And sometimes we even eat Christmas cookies as we watch.” Emmy said. “Lucky you.” I told her, smiling. She took my hand inside her two tiny hands. “Lucky you now too. Cause you get to celebrate Christmas with us now. We’ll be your family.” I got tears in my eyes at her sweet words. How could this little girl, with her pretty braids and earnest eyes know exactly what it was I’d always wanted? A real family, to watch movies with and bake cookies with and to get excited with about Christmas? I hugged her tightly. “Thank you, sweetheart. I would love that very much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone notice that the dress Lena is wearing here is the dress Katie wears in "A Princess for Christmas"? It's my favourite!


	6. Danvers Home

Emmy fell asleep well before the end of the movie, but Kara and I decided to finish it anyway. As I’d told Emmy, I hadn’t actually seen many Christmas movies before. But I thought that even if I had, Elf would still be my favourite. I found the entire movie adorable, and especially the part where the character played by Zooey Deschanel started singing the song to bring back the Christmas spirit and get Santa’s sleigh up in the air filled my heart with a warm feeling. 

After we’d finished the movie, we put Emmy to bed. We decided not to wake her up and to put her in her bed straight away, even though she still had her clothes on. “So, what do you want to do now?” Kara asked, as we returned to our seats on the couch. “My sister and Maggie won’t be back before midnight.” “How about we catch up on Once Upon A Time?” I suggested. Kara laughed. “That was the plan, wasn’t it?”

“You know, Jennifer Morrison is actually performing in a play in New York this December.” Kara said, when we’d finished the episode. “I saw it on her Instagram.” “I’ve never been to New York.” I noted. “ It’s always been a place where I wanted to go, though.” Suddenly, Kara’s eyes started to sparkle. “Then why don’t we?” I laughed. “Sure. We’ll just drop everything and go to New York.” “No, I’m serious!” Kara said imploringly. “There can’t really be anything more magical than New York during Christmastime, right? And we can just go during the weekend. It’s not that far from here, just eight hours by bus, I think.” I looked at her. There was nothing I wanted more than to say yes. I knew I didn’t actually have the money to go to New York City during Christmas, or any time of the year, really. But the look on Kara’s face, pure excitement, made it very difficult to say no.

“I would love to, Kara. It sounds absolutely perfect. But that would be so expensive.” I said that last part looking down at my lap. I knew Kara was aware that I was a scholarship student and didn’t actually have much money to spare, but I still didn’t like admitting it. “I’m sure we can figure something out. Maggie’s aunt actually owns a hotel in New York, and she’ll give us a discount. And the play is only about $40, I think.” I smiled. It didn’t really take much convincing. “Alright, then. Let’s do it.” I was already thinking of how much extra hours of work I’d have to put in to be able to pay for the trip, but the look on Kara’s face when I told her I’d go, was worth it. Her entire face lit up, brighter than any Christmas tree could ever be. “Really?” She said, jumping up in excitement. She hugged me quickly, then went over to get her phone.

“Do you think I can call Maggie’s aunt now?” I laughed. “It’s 11 pm. I’m sure her aunt will be asleep by now. New York will still be there tomorrow.” Kara pouted. “You’re right, I know. It’s just, as soon as I get an idea, I want to get started on it right away. And New York and Jennifer Morrison for Christmas? That might just be the best idea I’ve ever had.” “Alright, alright. I didn’t say you couldn’t start planning all the other details yet.” Kara grinned. 

When Alex and Maggie returned at midnight, their entire living room table was full of notebooks and papers, where Kara and I had been planning our trip. “Hey!” Kara said to them, opening the door. “How was the movie?” “Not enough action.” Alex said poutily. Maggie laughed. “This one can’t sit through a movie unless there are guns in it.” Kara looked back at me. “She’s a special agent.” She said by way of explanation. “Come meet Lena.” She said as Alex and Maggie entered the apartment.

“Hey! I’m Alex and this is my wife Maggie.” Alex said, shaking my hand. “Nice to meet you.” I said to both of them as I shook Maggie’s hand as well. “So, how was our little devil?” Maggie asked, laughing. “Emmy, you mean? Oh, she was a total angel!” Alex and Maggie both laughed. “Well, you’ve only just met her. Trust me, she can be a little devil sometimes.” Alex said. “Well, she was a sweetheart today. In fact, if you ever need a babysitter, you can call me.” I said, smiling. “Well, we’ll be sure to take you up on that offer.” Maggie said.

“Okay, okay, you’ve all met each other. Time for the important stuff.” Kara said, unable to contain her excitement any longer. “Lena and I are going to New York to see Jennifer Morrison perform!” “The actress from Once Upon A Time, right?” Alex said. Kara nodded. “Yes, yes. Maggie, we were wondering if we could perhaps stay in your aunt’s hotel?” Maggie smiled. She seemed totally used to Kara’s overwhelming enthusiasm, which I supposed was to be expected, since she’d been married to Alex for years already. “Well, the hotel’s always really busy around the holidays, but I’m sure she can find a place for you two.” “Thank you!” Kara said, flinging her arms around Maggie. Maggie just laughed.

“Alright, I better get going.” I said, smiling. “I have an essay due in adolescent psychology tomorrow.” I looked at my watch. It was already past midnight. “Actually, today.” “Well, thank you so much for babysitting today.” Alex said to me. “It was my pleasure.” I said, smiling. I left the apartment feeling more excited for Christmas than I’d ever been before in my life. I was becoming more sure by the minute that I could definitely make ends meet in order to go to New York. And anyway, I deserved a little fun every once in a while. I often spent too much time working and studying to have time left for anything else, but I knew that there were also other things that were important in life. Such as friendship.  
When I got home, I immediately marked the date of our trip to New York on my calendar. We’d decided to go the weekend two weeks before Christmas, since Kara had to spend Christmas at her family’s house. 

I woke up to five texts from Kara, all sent well after midnight. It seemed she had stayed up deep into the night to plan our trip. She wasn’t kidding when she said she went overboard once she had an idea. The texts she sent mostly included Christmassy activities that could apparently been done in New York. I was glad to see that all of them were free. The trip was going to be a burden to my bank account as it was. 

The days suddenly seemed to go agonisingly slow when I realised that it was still two weeks until our trip to New York. Before I’d met Kara, my weeks had gone by quickly, always a blur of classes, homework, and my teaching job, but now that I actually had things to look forward to, it seemed that time had slowed down. After all the enthusiastic texts she’d sent that night, I didn’t even hear from Kara for a few days. Whenever I didn’t see her for a while, I started to wonder what she was doing. 

On Tuesday afternoon, I had a couple of hours of free time. I wondered whether I should call Kara and ask her to watch Once Upon A Time with me. But I was sure she had other plans, with people much more interesting than me. It was a miracle that she wanted to spend time with me as it was.

But on Wednesday, I finally got another text from her. “Hey! I haven’t heard from you in a while. Alex says Emmy keeps asking where you are. Apparently she misses you ;) Want to come home to my mom’s house for the weekend and bake Christmas cookies with us? Emmy will be there too.” I smiled. Even if it was because her six-year old cousin wanted to see me, baking cookies with Kara’s family seemed really fun. I wasn’t very good at baking, though. I’d learned to cook out of necessity, but my mother, being the soulless cold-hearted monster that she was, had never baked Christmas cookies with me as a child. 

I spent the rest of the week working extra hard on homework, knowing that I wouldn’t have much time for it during the weekend. On Saturday morning, I met Kara at the gates of the college. “Hey!” She said already before I was even in hearing distance. I laughed. Her pure enthusiasm was totally adorable. “Alex will be here in ten minutes. Apparently they’re having trouble finding Emmy’s favourite doll. She refuses to go anywhere without that thing.”

We waited for Alex on the curb, catching each other up on what had been going on in our lives during the past week. Kara had written another article for the school newspaper, which this time was a slightly more fluff piece on different Christmas movies that she’d watched. “Christmas is actually a really interesting phenomenon, even psychologically.” I noted. “Are people happier during Christmastime? What does it say about people when they decorate really early? Does celebrating Christmas as a child influence adult behaviour?” 

Kara nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, actually! The psychology of Christmas. I like it! That could be my next article.” I grinned broadly. Coming up with inspiration for a possible article for Kara actually made me feel a little giddy. But I attributed most of the giddiness to the fact that soon, I’d be meeting Kara’s mother. I always had a little difficulty meeting new people, even though the fact that she was Kara’s mother meant that there was no possible way she wasn’t warm and kind like her daughter.

Soon after, Alex’s car pulled up to the curb. Alex rolled down the window even though it was freezing cold. “Hey girls! Sorry we’re late, there was a minor disaster with Supergirl. But we found her in the end!” I was confused for a second. Supergirl? Wasn’t that a comic book character? But then my attention was pulled to the window of the back seat, where Emmy was enthusiastically waving around a doll dressed in red and blue with a large S on her shirt. I laughed. Kara grinned as well. “Well, the princess needs what she needs.” “Yes indeed, sister.” Alex said, feigning exasperation. But her adoration for her daughter was clearly visible.

Alex rolled the window back up, and Kara opened the door of the back seat. Immediately, Emmy’s high-pitched voice could be heard. “Lena! Come sit next to me!” She was sitting in the seat on the right, meaning that I’d have to sit in the middle. Kara looked at me questioningly. “Would that be okay? The middle seat is kind of squished though.” I smiled at Emmy. “Anything for the princess.” “Yeey!” Emmy said, waving her arms excitedly. “You don’t want to sit next to your aunt Kara anymore?” Kara said, fake poutily. “I’ve sat next to you loads of times, auntie.” Emmy reasoned. “But not next to Lena.” Kara laughed. “Well, can’t argue with that logic.” I climbed into the back seat and sat in the middle next to Emmy. “Hi Lena!” Maggie said, dimples showing as she smiled at me in the rear mirror. Sometimes it was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that both of these kind, tiny, loving mothers worked in the field for law enforcement. 

We spent the two hours on the road singing Christmas carols. At first, I was quite self-conscious, until I heard Alex loudly belt out the lyrics to every song, not caring that she was singing totally off-key. Kara, of course, had a voice like an angel. I knew I wasn’t a terrible singer myself, I’d been in the choir during high school (even though that was mostly for extracurriculars on my college applications). But I loved singing Christmas songs, and we were at Kara’s childhood home before I knew it.


	7. Christmas Cookies

The house was absolutely perfect, the kind you’d expect in a commercial, with a happy mom and dad and two adorable daughters. Of course the Christmas decorations were abundantly present, since this was in fact where Kara got her Christmas enthusiasm from. But the decorations were stylish, not the ghastly decorations some houses liked to put up this time of year. There were so many fairy lights it had to have taken hours to put them all in.

Before I could observe the house any further, a figure appeared in the doorway of the house. I knew it had to be Kara’s mother, though I couldn’t see much from here. I quickly got out of the car, as Maggie helped Emmy out of her seat. Emmy ran towards the house as soon as she got out of the car. 

“Grandma!” Emmy yelled excitedly as she ran into the woman’s arms. We all laughed little at that, and I was suddenly reminded by her affectionate outburst of how I had never had a grandma, a kind woman to love me and to spoil me endlessly. But I was just happy for Emmy that she did.

By the time we got to the door, Emmy had already run inside. The woman standing on the porch had long, grey hair, and a kind smile on her face. She immediately shook my hand, before greeting anyone else. I was glad. I hated that awkward moment where people who already knew each other greeted each other, while I stood around waiting for someone to introduce me. 

“Hi, I’m Eliza.” She said warmly, her handshake firm but not tight. 

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lena.” 

“Pleasure to meet you too. My daughter’s told me a lot about you.” Eliza said, smiling at Kara over my shoulder. I glanced at Kara too, and tried hard to stop a blush from colouring my face. Kara had talked about me to her mother? That had to mean that our friendship was important to her too.

Of course it was, I scolded myself mentally. After all, I was here, with her family. I had to stop doubting myself this way, it was ridiculous. But I couldn’t really help it when it came to Kara. I just cared too much what she thought about me.

As we walked inside, I noticed that the inside of the house was decorated in much the same way as the outside. There was only one Christmas tree I could see, in the living room. Just like Kara’s favourite tree from Christmas Central, this one had a wide variety of different baubles. There were some which were clearly made by little kids, presumably Alex and Kara when they’d been younger.

My favourite part of the decorations were the photographs that adorned the walls in red decorated frames. As I looked around, it appeared that there were pictures from every single Christmas for I couldn’t even tell how many years. There were recent ones, with a younger looking Emmy, but also ones with Kara as a teenager. I knew that she’d been adopted at that age, so there were sadly no pictures of her before that. But the adorable pictures of thirteen year old Kara, gazing at everything in wonder because it was her first real Christmas, were more than enough.

While I was observing the decorations, Emmy came running back into the room from wherever she’d been hiding. 

“When are we gonna bake the cookies?” She said excitedly. Eliza laughed. 

“I thought you would ask that. We can start right away, if you like.” She took Emmy by the hand, and they walked into what was presumably the kitchen. Kara looked at me. 

“Want to put your stuff away first?” I nodded. We were only staying one night, so I’d just brought a backpack with pyjamas and a change of clothes. I hadn’t even noticed I was still wearing it until Kara had brought it up. We walked up the stairs, to a door which said “Alex and Kara”. Kara opened the door of the room.

“Welcome to my childhood bedroom.” She said with a grand gesture as we walked inside. I looked around in awe. This was where Kara had lived when she was younger.   
The room was done up in light colours, and all of the decorations were very sweet. There were several pictures of Alex and Kara as teenagers on the wall, as well as some drawings. The room also held two beds, each on its own side of the room. I presumed that was where we would be sleeping. 

“So, which one was yours?” I said, gesturing to the beds. Kara laughed. “You guess.” I looked at both sides of the room, and laughed as well. It was stupid I even had to ask. Everything on Kara’s side was either light blue or light pink, while the prevailing colour of Alex’ side was dark green, almost a camouflage colour. I put my backpack down next to Alex’ old bed, and looked at Kara expectantly.

“Ready to bake some cookies?” She asked, smiling. 

“Well, I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready. As I said, I’m not much of a baker. But let’s try it!” “I’m sure you’ll do fine.” Kara said reassuringly. “It’s not that hard, trust me.” I just laughed. Of course she would think it wasn’t that hard, she’d done it all her life. But I followed her down the stairs anyway.

The kitchen already smelled incredible as we walked in, of chocolate and cinnamon. Eliza appeared to be measuring flour into a bowl, as Emmy stood beside her, sneakily eating sugar straight from the package. It appeared Alex and Maggie had not yet joined them. 

“Hey, girls!” Eliza said, as we walked in. “I made some hot cocoa, feel free to pour yourself some.” Kara walked over to her mom, kissing her on the cheek.   
“You’re the best, Eliza.” She said. Eliza just laughed, pointing at Emmy. 

“As if this one would let me do it any other way.” We all laughed while Emmy grinned cheekily. Kara poured both of us hot chocolate, into red and white mugs decorated with reindeer. I took my first sip.

“Oh my, this is delicious!” I exclaimed. It was, if possible, even better than the hot chocolate at Central City. Eliza smiled. 

“Thank you, dear. It’s a secret recipe.” Eliza said. Kara leaned over to whisper in my ear.

“She puts half a teaspoon of cinnamon in there.” I laughed. Even though Kara didn’t seem to think it was that important, to me it still felt like I was being let in on a family secret. Of course, my family had had plenty of secrets, but none of them were even remotely good. I shuddered. Now was not the time to think of my terrible foster mother.

“So, what can we do?” I asked Eliza, setting down my finished cup of hot cocoa. It only then occurred to me that I’d be consuming way too much sugar that weekend. There had to be plenty in that cocoa alone, and it would only get worse because we were baking cookies. I told myself it was okay because it was a part of Christmas traditions, and I would just go to the gym longer on Monday.

“The two of you can roll out the dough that is in the fridge, while Emmy and I work on the next batch of dough. And then when you’re done, we can all cut out the shapes together.” “Yes!” Emmy exclaimed. Kara tapped her lightly on the nose.

“That is my favourite part too. Such a smart little girl you are!” Emmy beamed, then quickly engulfed the finger Kara had still pointed at her nose in her mouth. 

“Oh no! A terrible monster has taken my finger! What can I do?” Emmy giggled victoriously. 

“Lena, come help me!” Kara said, feigning desperation. She looked very comical, pretending to be terrified, while the six-year-old had her finger in her mouth. I sighed dramatically.

“Well, someone has to save you, I suppose.” But I couldn’t keep a straight face as I walked towards them. Emmy shook her head vehemently as I came closer, but I decided not to listen to her. 

“Sorry, kid. I have to save your aunt Kara from the terrible monster.” I wrapped my arms around Emmy and started to tickle her. She squirmed around in my arms for a moment, until she couldn’t help it any longer and burst out laughing. Kara took the opportunity to remove her finger from Emmy’s mouth. She held it up into the air victoriously.

“I’m free! Thank you, Lena, for saving me!” I just laughed at her. Emmy turned around in my arms to face me.

“Why did you have to save aunt Kara?” She whined. “It’s not fair!” 

“Sorry, kiddo. But we all deserve to be saved. Look, I promise I’ll save you next time. That okay?” Emmy thought about it for a second, then nodded. “Fine.” Suddenly , she got a mischievous glint in her eyes. I looked at her warily, not knowing what she was planning to do. But then, two tiny hands shot out, and she started to tickle me in return. Her fingers were tiny, so it didn’t actually tickle, but I pretended it did anyway, for Emmy’s sake. I let myself fall to the floor from my kneeling position, as Emmy continued to tickle me. Suddenly I became aware of Eliza watching us, making me slightly self-conscious. But she was smiling warmly, clearly used to her granddaughter’s antics.

“Emmy, how about those cookies?” She asked the girl. Emmy looked up at her grandmother suddenly, and jumped up off of me. Clearly, she’d forgotten all about the cookies.   
Kara extended her arm towards me to help me up from the floor. I took it gratefully. After we’d gotten up, we walked to the table, where Kara had already taken out the dough and what I assumed to be a rolling pin. “Ever rolled out dough before?” Kara asked me. I shook my head. “Well, it’s very simple. I’m sure with your intellectual capacity, you’ll pick it up in no time.” 

“Don’t know about my motor skills, though.” I noted. Kara laughed.

“I’ll show you. First, you put some flour on the table where you want to roll out your dough.” I observed carefully as Kara rolled out the dough. She did it with a relaxed elegance, making it look as simple as she’d suggested it was. But when I let myself be convinced to try, it turned out not to be that easy at all, as I’d expected. The dough kept tearing at the edges. In the end, Kara took over and finished it.

When we were done, Eliza got out a box of cookie cutters. There were many Christmassy shapes, such as stars, angels, reindeer, Christmas trees, and, of course, ginger bread men. Alex and Maggie walked into the kitchen as we were getting started.

“Of course, you two show up once all the work is done and it’s time for the fun part.” Kara teased. “At least your daughter has a better sense of responsibility.” Alex just raised her eyebrows, while Maggie laughed. 

“We can leave again, if you like.” “No, mommies!” Emmy pouted. “I’m going to teach Lena how to cut out cookies.” I blushed as everyone turned to look at me. From the look in Alex’s eyes, it was clear Kara had explained to her that my stepmother was the reason for me missing out on so many normal Christmas experiences.  
“Well, you better get started then.” She said to her daughter. Emmy nodded gravely, as if she was suddenly aware of the great responsibility placed upon her to teach me this very important skill. She took out a cookie cutter from the basket, a small pig. I didn’t really understand what pigs had to do with Christmas, but as long as Emmy liked it, that was fine by me.

“So, you put the cutter here, as close to the edge as possible. Like this.” She said, demonstrating exactly what it was I had to do. “And then you press down until you’ve cut out your shape, and you pick it up and put it on a baking tray. But you have to be careful not to break it! And then you can make another cookie. And you have to put the cookie cutter as close to where the last cookie was as possible, so you don’t get too much left over.” She said, then handed me the cookie cutter. “Now you try.” I smiled at her, as Eliza patted her head kindly. 

“Great job, sweetheart! You explained that very well to Lena.”


	8. A Happy Break

We spent the rest of the afternoon baking cookies. Emmy, of course, was very excited to decorate them, but Eliza convinced her that decorating the cookies would work better after they’d cooled down completely and the icing wouldn’t become runny when we put in on the cookies. Eliza made us pumpkin soup for dinner, which was delicious. I occasionally made pumpkin soup for myself, since I could always make it in large quantities and it would last for a couple of days, but the one I made was nowhere near as good as this one.

After dinner, Emmy convinced us to play Christmas charades with her. Since I didn’t know much about Christmas, and especially not about the characters in the different Christmas movies, I did terribly. Kara and Alex, of course, made an incredible team, always guessing everything within seconds. Maggie and Emmy didn’t do as well, but they still held their own. I suspected Maggie only knew most of the characters because of her wife and daughter’s infatuation.

When Maggie and Alex had put Emmy to bed, of course after she’d demanded a bedtime story from me, we all sat down in the living room to chat.

“Kara, I’ve been meaning to tell you: my aunt’s agreed to put the two of you up for the weekend.” Maggie said. 

“Yes!” Kara exclaimed excitedly. 

“You’re going to New York?” Eliza asked, apparently unaware of our Christmas plans. Kara nodded vigorously.

“Yes, we are! The weekend two weeks before Christmas. Lena’s never been to New York, and Jennifer Morrison is performing in a play this December.” Eliza smiled. “Well, that sounds like a lot of fun. I remember your father and I went to New York one Christmas, far before Alex had been born.” She got a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes, and I was reminded that I was far from the only person in this room who had lost someone. But Eliza quickly composed herself again.

“You’re very lucky Maggie’s aunt is letting you stay there.” 

“Well, my aunt does love it when Kara is around.” Maggie pointed out. 

“Who wouldn’t?” Alex said, nudging Kara teasingly. They might not have been sisters by birth, but their bond was clear to anyone. “Little miss sunshine.” We all laughed a little, while Kara looked down, blushing. 

“Well, your aunt is very kind herself.” Kara pointed out. 

“She must be, if she’s letting us stay at her hotel.” I noted. Maggie smiled at me. Although I hadn’t really had a chance to talk to her, she seemed very kind herself. And she and Alex made wonderful parents for Emmy. It was clear the girl was growing up loved and appreciated. 

After that, we chatted for a while longer, until we decided it was time to go to bed. Even though I usually had trouble sleeping in a strange bed, Kara’s presence made it much easier. I woke up the next day feeling more rested than I had in weeks, as the smell of waffles and hot chocolate wafted up from the kitchen. 

We spent the Sunday much like we had spent the day before that, baking some more cookies and decorating the ones that we’d already baked. It turned out I had a natural knack for decorating cookies, which I though might’ve had to do with my mother hammering on me perfecting my handwriting as a child. Emmy soon got bored of decorating her own cookies, since the delicate movements were a bit more difficult for her, and instead decided to instruct me on how I had to decorate my cookies, demanding increasingly more complex designs as I went on. But I didn’t mind; the little girl had made me feel instantly welcome in their family, and I was better at executing patterns than coming up with them anyway. 

We also played more charades, and Emmy insisted that Maggie read the Christmas story to us. The Christmas story she was referring to was apparently a children’s book by Astrid Lindgren, of a young boy who imagined the Christmas tale as if it were taking place in his barn. The book was beautifully decorated, and Maggie turned out to have a wonderful reading voice. After she’d finished reading the story, we decided it was time to leave for Central City.

Eliza hugged us all goodbye, including me. She also squeezed an extra bag of Christmas cookies in my hands, winking. 

“You look like you need them.” She said, smiling. I wanted to refuse; there was no way I could eat that much sugar. But Eliza had already retreated to the porch, making it impossible for me to give the cookies back. I suspected that was exactly what she’d intended. 

On the drive back, we still listened to Christmas music, but somehow it wasn’t as fun as it had been on the way there. At least for me, it was accompanied by a growing sense of sadness and melancholy. I’d spent the weekend surrounded by lovely people, participating in wonderful activities in a beautifully decorated house. Now it was time to go back to my empty room, with nothing but my own thoughts to keep me company. I was dreading it more by the minute: the absence of human contact and interactions, the confinement of the bleak space with little light that was my room, and the absolute loneliness that resulted whenever I did have a moment free of work. But at least there was the trip to New York to look forward to, I reminded myself. I just had to get through two more weeks.

When we got to the university campus, it was time for both Kara and me to get out. 

“Thank you all so much for letting me come along. I had such a wonderful time.” I told them sincerely. 

“It was our pleasure.” Alex said, with a compassionate smile. I had a feeling the woman was no stranger to loneliness herself, although of course she now had Maggie and Emmy to   
fill her life with love. 

“It was fun having you along, Lena. And if we don’t see you again before that, have fun in New York.” 

“Thank you.” I said, almost blushing. It was rare for people to say they enjoyed my company, but I had the feeling they meant it. 

The last one to say goodbye was Emmy. She hugged me through her seatbelt, almost not letting me go. 

“Will you come again soon? I really like you.” She said with wide, sincere eyes. 

“I really like you too, Emmy. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”

“Promise?” She said, holding out her pinkie. I knew it was hardly a promise I could make, but the way things seemed to be going, I was fairly certain we would meet again. I knew that at least I definitely wanted to.

After we’d both finished saying goodbye, Kara and I got out of the car to walk towards the campus. 

“I’m so excited for New York!” Kara said. “I hope it snows. It has to snow, right? That’s what Christmas in New York is supposed to look like. Snow, and lights everywhere. I wonder how many Christmas sweaters I should bring. And what I should wear to meet Jennifer Morrison. I want her to like my clothes, since her style is so great. And of course I want to look perfect for the picture. If we even get a picture.” I laughed as she rattled it all off. Once Kara got an idea, there really was no stopping her. But I loved that she could get so excited about everything. It was extremely refreshing.

“I’m looking forward to it as well. Some snow would be perfect, as long as it’s not a blizzard. And as what you’ll wear: your clothes are all beautiful, so you’ll look great no matter what.”

“I’m sorry, I’m getting overly excited again, aren’t I?” Kara said, smiling sheepishly. “I always do this.”

“No, no, not all!” I was quick to reassure her. “It’s good that you’re excited. I mean, why else would we be going?”

“Such wise words.” Kara said teasingly, before adding a “You’re right.” 

At that point, we’d reached the crossroads where we’d be going our separate ways. “Will I be seeing you again this week?” Kara said, as we stood there, getting ready to say goodbye. I looked down at my feet.

“I would really like to, but I don’t think I can. Finals are coming up, and this weekend was really the only time I had off.” Kara nodded understandingly.

“Of course, you should be able to work on school! We’ll have all the time in the world when finals are over and we’re heading to New York.” She said, smiling. I was incredibly happy that she understood. And she was right; we’d have plenty of time during our trip.

“Well, good luck with everything then. I hope everything turns out the way you want to.” I smiled back at her.

“You too, Kara. Good luck!” We hugged goodbye before we each went our separate ways. 

That night, my room felt depressingly empty. Even though we’d only spent one night sleeping in the same room, I still felt Kara’s absence. It was too quiet without the soft sound of Kara’s breathing on the other side of the room. And there had been something reassuring about her presence, something which helped me have the first good night of sleep in months. Perhaps it was the feeling that if I were to be waken up, as I had been regularly throughout my life as long as I could remember, by a nightmare, my heart racing and my body frozen, there was someone I could wake up. Someone who wouldn’t mind, someone who’d understand and who’d take me in her arms and hold me until my breathing went back to normal and I felt safe again. Not for the first time I wondered how this one girl had come to mean so much to me so quickly.

The next morning I woke up at five, from a night even more restless than the ones before I’d visited Kara’s family. Somewhere during the late evening thoughts about Kara meaning a lot to me turned to thoughts about me not meaning much to Kara. What if the only reason she was hanging out with me was out of pity? We’d met through the scholarship interview, and I’d told her about how betrayed I felt after Elizabeth – maybe she’d sensed my loneliness? And knowing how loving and kind-hearted Kara was, it wouldn’t surprise me if she’d invited me over because she wanted to help me. Surely that would’ve seemed to her like the right thing to do, Christmas spirit and all.  
But I had to put those doubts out of my head. I didn’t have time for second-guessing right now. I needed to focus. Like I’d told Kara, finals were coming up, and there was so much I still had to do I could hardly wrap my head around it. So at five thirty in the morning, I threw back the covers of my bed, got up, opened the window to allow the freezing air to wake me up and turned on my laptop. It was time to get to work.


	9. A Park in the Snow

The next morning I woke up at five, from a night even more restless than the ones before I’d visited Kara’s family. Somewhere during the late evening thoughts about Kara meaning a lot to me turned to thoughts about me not meaning much to Kara. What if the only reason she was hanging out with me was out of pity? We’d met through the scholarship interview, and I’d told her about how betrayed I felt after Elizabeth – maybe she’d sensed my loneliness? And knowing how loving and kind-hearted Kara was, it wouldn’t surprise me if she’d invited me over because she wanted to help me. Surely that would’ve seemed to her like the right thing to do, Christmas spirit and all.  
But I had to put those doubts out of my head. I didn’t have time for second-guessing right now. I needed to focus. Like I’d told Kara, finals were coming up, and there was so much I still had to do I could hardly wrap my head around it. So at five thirty in the morning, I threw back the covers of my bed, got up, opened the window to allow the freezing air to wake me up and turned on my laptop. It was time to get to work. 

The week after flew by in a blur of tests, essays and teaching. My alarm went of at six am every morning, after which I got out of bed, spent an hour or so working on my assignments, and then made my way to the kitchen for breakfast. I’d made myself three litres of smoothies on Monday morning, so that I wouldn’t have to spend any time on breakfast throughout the week and wouldn’t be tempted to go for an unhealthier option. At seven, the kitchen in my residence was always empty. That wasn’t surprising, as I occasionally heard my housemates return from the library at three am in the morning. Personally, that was just something I’d never understood: as soon as I got less than seven hours of sleep I found my thoughts wandering constantly and I knew I’d never be able to do as well on any test. So I preferred to go to bed on time and wake up early. Besides, I didn’t mind the kitchen being empty. I didn’t particularly enjoy talking to people when I’d just woken up, and especially not during finals week. Although I had to admit, after an entire week of this, the silence started to get a bit deafening.

Saturday afternoon, as I was sat on the floor, my notes for psychology of teaching and learning strewn all across the floor and the textbook open in my lap, I caught my mind wandering to the weekend before. The contrast between that weekend and this one was almost too stark. Sitting in my empty room, I couldn’t hear the soft murmur of Alex and Maggie’s voices as they chatted in the other room, couldn’t hear Eliza tidying around the house, and most of all, couldn’t hear Emmy’s high-pitched giggles and Kara’s bubbly laughs as they ran around the kitchen, running after each other. I sighed. I supposed that was what it would’ve been to grow up with a “normal” family, a gaggle of cousins running around the house hyped up on sugary sweets while the adults were busy in the kitchen catching up over boiling pans and half-filled glasses of wine. Luthor Christmases had never been anything like that. If my mother hadn’t insisted on presenting us as the picture-perfect family we never could be, I would’ve stopped coming to Christmas altogether as soon as I started attending boarding school. But it was pointless to think about that now, I told myself. It wouldn’t change anything, and besides, it was a distraction. A distraction that I could certainly do without with three tests and five deadlines standing between me and Christmas in New York with Kara.

On Wednesday morning at seven am, as I sat in my bedroom slowly sipping the smoothie that I was holding with my left hand, my right hand busy writing notes, I saw the screen of my phone light up from the corner of my eye. I usually put in on silent and hid it underneath my pillow, as I couldn’t afford the distraction, but apparently I’d forgotten. I resisted the urge to get up and go check it, however, and soon I’d forgotten all about it as I quickly scribbled together the outline of my essay. A while later, as I made my way to the kitchen to do the dishes, I picked up my phone out of routine to check it. I smiled involuntarily when I realised it was a message from Kara.

“Hi Lena!  
I hope your finals are going well! Mine are kicking my butt to be honest.” I laughed at that.

“Anyway, I haven’t seen you in a while, and I wanted to invite you to go for a walk in the snow.” 

The snow? Realising I hadn’t even looked out the window yet, I opened my curtains, and sure enough, there it was. A thin layer of snow covering the grass lawn in front of my building. I shivered involuntarily. I liked the way snow looked, but I had to admit I hated how it always made me cold and wet. But of course Kara loved it.

“Now, I know you’re probably going to say you’re busy, and I get it, BUT: going for a walk (in the snow!!) actually increases your productivity! Knowing you you’ve been working way too hard for the past week and you deserve a break.”

Below the message, she’d linked to an article in a scientific journal that did indeed claim that taking breaks to go outside ultimately made you more productive. Kara knew exactly how to convince me. I looked at my schedule. I’d planned half an hour for lunch; if I went to bed a bit later I could make that an hour. I opened the message to text her back:

“Hello Kara, that sounds absolutely lovely. Meet you at the gates at 1 pm?”

“See you there 😊”

With that, I returned to my essay, and I had to admit, staying focused was just the tiniest bit easier knowing that in a few hours I’d get to go for a walk with Kara. In fact, I was so focused I lost track of time, until someone opening the door of our apartment reminded me that lunch break had started. Quickly, I stacked my notes on my desk, before walking over to the closet to dig out my snowshoes. I knew I had a pair somewhere; my adoptive mother had purchased them for me when I was still joining the annual Luthor trip to Aspen, but I hadn’t worn them since January at least. Eventually I found them, and after putting on three different sweaters and my warmest winter coat, I made my way outside. 

Walking up to the gate, I saw that Kara was already standing there. She was practically bouncing up and down, a bright spot against the pale snow around her. I smiled. Her excitement was contagious, and I wondered not the first time at what age I’d lost that almost childish wonder, that pure sense of marvel that Kara had at the world and its beauty. When she saw me, she waved enthusiastically and made her way towards me. 

“Lena! I haven’t seen you in forever.” She said, smiling as she pulled me into a hug. Her arms had a hard time wrapping themselves around my five layers of sweaters and I laughed, extremely glad that I’d decided to join her for a walk.

“It’s good to see you too.” She released me from the hug, and, suddenly remembering what we had planned, turned around and started walking towards the gates, motioning at me to follow her.

“I know the perfect park to go to. It’s a bit hidden away, but when it snows, it turns into the most beautiful winter wonderland you’ve ever seen. I promise.”  
“You seem to know so many places around the city.” I remarked. I’d chosen to go to NCU partly because they offered me a full scholarship, but also because when I first saw the city, I couldn’t imagine myself living anywhere else, and I wanted to discover everything there was to see. I wanted to find the cosiest café to read a book at on a rainy day, wanted to find the best store to buy my favourite kinds of tea at, and even wanted to find the best park to go to when it had snowed. But after I’d moved in, I was almost immediately swamped with school and work, and I never really got around to doing any of the things I’d wanted to do.

“Well, I’ve had a lot of time to explore. When Alex and I were younger, Eliza and Jeremiah sometimes used to take us here for the weekend. Alex would convince me to sneak away and we’d walk as far as we could without getting lost.” 

“Kara Danvers, I didn’t know you were such a rebel!” I laughed. 

“What can I say, I’m a risk taker.” Kara said with a wink.

“I’m pretty sure that the fact that you called it being a “risk taker” already means that you’re not one.” I pointed out.

“Well, we never got caught.”

“I can imagine Eliza and Jeremiah weren’t watching out for that, if you were my daughter I wouldn’t expect you of all people to sneak away. You’re like a cross between an angel and a puppy.”

“An angel and a puppy?” Kara laughed. “That’s one I haven’t heard before.” I shrugged.

“Doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”

“Also doesn’t mean that it is.” 

“Such a journalism student.” I teased.

“Such an ancient history student.” She retorted.

“What does this have to do with ancient history?”

“Only in ancient history would you find such an odd cross as a cross between a puppy and an angel.”

“Well, I didn’t mean it literarily. It was a simile. Some literature student you are.”

“Speaking of literature, how are finals going?”

As we were walking towards the park, we updated each other on how our finals were progressing. I found out Kara was taking a course in ancient literature which I’d taken before, so I gave her a few pointers on the final exam which she was grateful for but I was pretty sure she didn’t need anyway. After a while, I started to wonder where Kara was leading me. We were in a part of the city I’d never been before, and it seemed so abandoned I was surprised we were still in the centre of the city. The empty alleyways seemed straight out of a horror movie.

“Are you sure we’re heading in the right direction?” I asked Kara.

“We are, trust me! It’s only a few more minutes now.”

She led me through a skatepark, towards a wall at the opposite side. The ramps were covered in snow.

“One time, when we were younger, Alex and I took our sleds here and sleighed down the ramp.” 

“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” I asked. Kara shrugged.

“Only if you go down the bigger ramps. Alex did that one year, and then she crashed into a bench and broke her finger.” 

“That sounds like Alex.” 

We were at the wall now, and I still had no idea where Kara was leading me. This seemed like a dead end. But Kara kept walking forward, heading towards the corner where two walls met. Once we got close, I realised that where I once thought the two walls joined, there was actually a small gap. I followed Kara through it.  
I gasped. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Kara said, turning around to look at me. I could only nod. The park was small; I could see all of it from here, but it was the prettiest park I’d ever seen. Tall trees with branches covered in snow stood all around, closing off the park from the eyes of anyone who happened to wander past. The path of the park itself was narrow and winding, and passed over a small river at least three times that I could see. Every time, there was a small bridge. All the bridges had unique designs, some sleek and painted black and some made of brick and stone like the bridges of a medieval castle. All were covered in a thin layer of snow. Kara gave me a moment to take it all in. But she couldn’t hold her excitement for much longer.

“Come on, I want to show you around!” She offered me her arm, and I took it. Together we walked through the park, arm in arm, almost like the sisters in a Jane Austen novel would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is everything I have so far! I really hope you like it. Please be sure to comment down below and let me know what you think. I love hearing from everyone and it always inspires me to continue writing.


	10. Winter Wonderland

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to write another chapter today, here it is!

We walked around for a bit, and it was truly the most beautiful snow-covered park I’d ever seen. To me, it seemed even more beautiful than the hills up in Aspen that my foster family had taken me to, but perhaps I was slightly biased by the presence of a certain blonde. Fortunately, as much as I loved the park, it was quite small, and we returned to the campus within an hour. I hadn’t wanted to stress over the break I was taking, but a week and a half into finals I couldn’t help myself anymore. I felt like my levels of adrenaline were spiking permanently.

“So, do you have any finals on Friday?” Kara asked me as we neared the gates. I shook my head.

“Just an essay that’s due at midnight, but I’m pretty sure I can have it finished by the afternoon.” 

“Well our bus doesn’t leave until nine in the evening, so how about we check out the Winter Wonderland before that? I heard there’s going to be a student band performing Christmas songs.” The Winter Wonderland was an annual event organised by our school’s academic council. I had wanted to go there the year before, but realised in the end that I didn’t know anyone who would be there and didn’t want to risk having to awkwardly hang around by myself. This year, however, if Kara was going to be with me, I knew it would be fun.

“Yes, that sounds nice. Shall we meet there at five? Then I have time to finish my essay and pack my bags for the trip before that.” Kara nodded, then hugged me goodbye and wished me luck with the rest of my finals. Then she was off.

An immense sense of relief passed over me Friday afternoon as I clicked “hand-in” on my last essay and zipped up my suitcase. Finals, at least for now, were over, and I had nothing to worry about until January next year. I put on my Christmassy dress, even though I knew that Kara had already seen me wear it and would recognise it. It wasn’t like I had any other Christmas clothes to wear. When I arrived at the university café, Kara was standing outside, waiting for me. A huge grin was on her face, as usual.

“Finals are over! High five!” She held up her hand and I high-fived her, laughing. With every second that went by I was getting more excited for the weekend. Well, long weekend. We’d decided to extend our stay in New York until Wednesday so we’d have plenty of time to see everything that we wanted to see. Kara opened the door of the café.

“After you, my lady.” I mock-curtseyed to thank her and went inside, waiting for her to catch up and close the door that was already letting in an intense draught. We were back in the café where Kara and I first met, but it looked completely different. I was surprised at the transformation. The way it looked now, it could almost compete with Christmas Central. But not quite.

“So, what do you want to do first?” Kara asked. I looked around the room. As Kara said, there was a student band playing songs in the centre of the room. They were standing on a small stage, and pillows and blankets were strewn across the floor in front of it. Students were sitting on the pillows, chatting amongst each other. More than half of them were wearing Christmas sweaters in varying stages of ugliness. 

On the right side of the room, there was a photobooth, complete with Christmassy hats, felt antlers and even entire Santa suits. I had a feeling Kara would drag me there at some point during the afternoon. Next to the photobooth there was an arts and crafts stand with paper for Christmas cards and glitter in every single shade of the rainbow. 

“Let’s go get some hot chocolate first.” I suggested. Kara nodded, and we walked towards the other side of the room where big pans full of hot chocolate were being heated up over a stovetop. I looked at all the tinsel and paper flags hanging around it. That had to be a fire hazard.

Kara and I stood in line in front of the hot chocolate. When it was our turn, we were greeted by a guy wearing the ugliest Christmas sweater I had ever seen. It was a bright shade of red and it appeared to simultaneously combine all the different options of making Christmas sweaters uglier. It had multi-coloured lights that lit up, reversible sequins, bells that were stuck on, and when we arrived the guy pressed a button an the sweater started playing a tinny version of “Last Christmas”. 

“Hey, little Danvers!” The guy greeted us excitedly, clearly recognising Kara. 

“Hello, little Schott.” Kara retorted. 

“Hey!” The guy protested. 

“Oh, come on. You’re about two inches taller than me.”

“It’s at least three.”

“Sure, three.” Kara said, rolling her eyes cheekily in my direction to show that she obviously didn’t believe it. The guy looked over at me, noticing me for the first time. He held out his hand for me to shake. 

“Sorry, where are my manners. I’m Winn Schott, pleased to meet you.” I shook his hand.

“Lena Luthor, pleased to meet you too.” Winn looked over at Kara again.

“Still sticking to brunettes, it seems?” Kara mock punched him. I touched my brown hair self-consciously. I knew he was talking about my hair, but I wasn’t sure what he meant. Did Kara usually have brown-haired friends?

“Just pour us the hot chocolate, Winn.” Kara said with a hint of exasperation. Only then did Winn seem to remember what he was supposed to be doing, and he quickly handed us both paper cups filled to the brim with hot chocolate. 

“Don’t mind him.” Kara said. “He’s a really nice guy, we work together at the newspaper. He’s just a tad bitter that I won’t date him.”

“Why won’t you?” I asked, staring intently at my cup of hot chocolate. Kara looked at me, shrugging.

“He’s just not really my type.” I nodded. That made sense. Well, it made sense to me in theory. In practice, I had no idea what my type was. Clearly, Kara seemed to know, but I’d never really had a type. Some guys were nice enough, and I’d almost dated one of the boys who went to the boarding school opposite to mine when I was in high school, but we’d stopped hanging out shortly before we went on our first date, and I found that I didn’t really mind. I was pulled out of my thoughts by someone waving excitedly in our direction.   
Well, in Kara’s direction to be more specific. Kara smiled back at them, then looked over at me. 

“Do you mind if we join them for a bit?” I shook my head. I was a bit nervous at having to interact with even more new people, but Kara was clearly excited to see them, and I just wanted her to be happy. We walked over to the pillows in front of the band where the two girls were sitting. 

“Lena, meet Lucy Lane and Eve Tesmacher.” I shook hands with Lucy, while Eve immediately greeted me with a hug. 

“Lucy and Eve, this is Lena Luthor.” Lucy looked me up and down, then looked over at Kara with an expression that I couldn’t quite decipher. 

“Hi Lena. It’s so nice to meet you, we’ve heard a lot about you.” I looked over at Kara for confirmation, and found that for some reason she was blushing. This was strange. Usually, I was the one getting flustered around Kara, not the other way around. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

“Only good things, I hope.” I said, smiling at Lucy. These were Kara’s friends, after all, and I wanted more than anything to make a good impression. 

“Oh, very good things.” Eve replied, giggling. 

“Okay girls, that’s enough.” Kara said, and although there could be nothing less threatening in that moment than the small blonde with her hair in two braids and a cream coloured Christmas sweater that said “tree-mendous” on top of a bright pink skirt, both girls seemed to take the hint.

“So, I heard you and Kara are headed to New York for the weekend.” Lucy said, changing the topic. I nodded.

“I can’t wait. I’ve never been to New York, and I’ve heard it’s especially magical during Christmas.”

“Oh, it is!” Eve chimed in. “My boyfriend took me there one winter, and it was sooo romantic. Just walking around in the snow, holding hands… Almost as romantic as Paris.”   
“I never really understood the big deal about Paris, to be honest.” I confessed. My foster mother had taken me there the summer before I went to boarding school, because she had a business meeting there and the director of the other company had suggested that I could hang out with his young daughter.

“Sure, the food is good, and the Louvre was really interesting, but other than that, it’s just really grey. And I can understand why people find the Eiffel Tower so interesting, with its sleek design and fascinating construction, but I don’t see why people would consider a metal pole sticking into the sky romantic.” We chatted a bit more about Paris and about travelling, and I found that Kara’s friends were surprisingly easy to talk to. Both were similar to Kara in a way. Lucy had Kara’s drivenness and determination, although I suspected she was a lot more direct about it, a quality which I admired. And Eve, despite her even more bubbly and seemingly vapid exterior, also appeared much more intelligent than most people would probably guess.

“Why are they not playing any Christmas songs? This is the Winter Wonderland!” Kara exclaimed when the band had stopped playing for a moment.

“Go ask them.” Lucy suggested. 

“Why not?” Kara said, getting up and making her way over to the stage. I laughed. I wished I had some of Kara’s spontaneity. She talked for a while to the guys in the band, and after a few moments of Kara shaking her head vehemently as if she couldn’t possibly, she acquiesced. I didn’t realise what was going on until Kara got up on the stage and walked towards the microphone. Kara would be singing, I realised. Eve, who figured out what was going on a moment before I did, darted up after her to place a Santa head on her head. Kara adjusted it self-consciously, smiling awkwardly as she grabbed the microphone in her hand.

“Uh, hi.” She said, tapping the microphone for a sound check. “Whoo! Kara!” I heard someone, presumably Winn, shout from the back. “So, I’m going to be singing a Christmas song.” At that, Lucy cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled out: “Santa baby!”   
Kara looked over at her, as if considering it for a moment. Truthfully, I’d expected Kara to go for something a bit more traditional, maybe “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. It seemed Kara wasn’t so convinced by the suggestion either. But then she looked over at me, and seemed to make up her mind. She started singing, softly at first then more confidently as she went along.

She looked radiant up on that stage. Her eyes were sparkling, and one soft curl had escaped her braid framing her face. I felt the urge to tuck it back behind her ear. As she sang, I noticed for the first time her glittery bright pink lipstick. Although she usually wore red around Christmas, she’d chosen to match the colour to that of her skirt. The skirt moved back and forth as her hips swayed slowly to the music. Her beautiful voice filled my ears, singing a song which I’d always found a bit ridiculous but was suddenly warming up to.


	11. The Bus

As Kara was standing there on the stage, singing, I completely lost track of time, so I was surprised to find that when she was done and she walked off the stage (to a round of smattering applause) it was already seven pm. Kara, making her way over to us, stopping for a few brief chats and brushing off compliments modestly, had clearly already realised what time it was. When she finally made it through her mass of adoring fans, she held out her hand towards me to help me up. She looked over at Lucy and Eve.

“We have to leave soon, but it wouldn’t be right to go without a photo, now would it? You girls want to join?” They both nodded, jumping up. We went over to the photo booth and, dressed up with the ridiculous props (I even allowed Kara at the last minute to hang baubles in my ears instead of earrings) took a few silly pictures. After we’d taken three, Lucy and Eve got up, to allow Kara and me to take a few pictures with just the two of us. Kara pulled me close to her, putting her arms around me, and I sank into her comforting embrace. I remembered only at the last moment that our picture was being taken, so I quickly straightened out my back and opened my mouth to show just a bit of teeth, smiling exactly the way my foster mother had always reminded me I looked best in pictures.

After we were done, we said goodbye to Lucy and Eve. I was pleasantly surprised when Eve invited me to join them after Christmas break for a movie night. I really liked Kara’s friends, and I was happy to find they liked me too.

“Okay, okay. Lena’s amazing and you’ll get to spend time with her soon, but we really need to go now.” Kara said, tapping her left wrist comically as if she was wearing a watch there. I blushed, and waved goodbye to both Eve and Lucy as they walked back into the café.

“Your friends are lovely.” I told Kara honestly. She smiled.

“Yeah, they are, aren’t they?” Then she added: “They will, however, make us miss our bus if we don’t hurry. Why don’t you go pick up your suitcase and we’ll meet at the gate?”

“Okay, see you in a few!” I said, turning and hurrying quickly towards my building.

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing when I saw Kara’s suitcase. It was as if someone had taken an entire Christmas edition of a magazine, cut it into pieces, and then pasted it all over the suitcase, adding some wrapping paper. I honestly could not figure out what colour the suitcase had been before Christmas had exploded all over it.

“What’s so funny, Lee?” Kara asked, smiling. I pointed at the suitcase. Kara laughed with me. “Emmy helped me decorate it.”

“Ah, that figures.” I replied. It was a bit messy, to be sure, but it looked happy and it would definitely be easy to recognise in baggage claim. Unlike my suitcase, which was the most basic carry-on made of dark-blue fabric.

“The colour was already fading anyway, so I told Emmy to just go for it. We had a really fun afternoon putting that together.”

“I bet.” I said, smiling. “It looks lovely.”

“Anyway, shall we head over to the bus station?” Kara suggested. I nodded. Fortunately, the bus station was close by, because I did not think the wheels of my suitcase would last much longer.

The sun was already setting as we arrived, and I was glad that I didn’t have to travel all by myself. A bus in the dark didn’t exactly seem like the safest place. We checked in at the station, and I was surprised to find that the bus was much more comfortable than I had expected. We had plenty of leg room, which meant that we could also recline our seats a bit if we wanted to. Kara had booked seats for us near the front, which I was glad for. At least this way if I got motion sick I could look out the window near the driver.

“Time to get comfortable.” Kara said. “It’s going to be a long ride.” And she’d brought plenty of things to, like she said, make it comfortable. Out of her small backpack she pulled first a soft pink blanket with a snowflake pattern, which she spread across our legs. Then she got out a large metal thermos.

“I brought some tea for the road. We should probably wait to drink it, but if your hands get cold you can always hold it. It’s almost like a hot water bottle.” I had to admit, that sounded great. I’d worn my warmest pair of gloves, but my fingers were already freezing. I felt bad, however, that I hadn’t thought to bring anything like Kara had: I’d just prepared a couple of sandwiches in case one of us (most likely Kara) got hungry.

I hadn’t even noticed that as Kara was unpacking her backpack, the bus had already started to drive. I was happy to find that this bus ride would hopefully not feel as long as it actually was.

“So, as for entertainment, I figured we could continue with your Christmas education.” Kara said, grinning. Neither the late hour nor the dark skies seemed to in any way dampen her enthusiasm. “You’ve already seen Elf, and well, that’s my absolute favourite, but there’s still plenty of other great movies. I thought we could start with _Polar Express_. It’s more of a kids’ movie, really, but I know you’ve never seen it, and well, it’s a classic. But if you don’t like it, we don’t have to, of course.”

“No, that sounds lovely.” I reassured her. She grinned.

“Okay, perfect! And then after that we can watch _Love, Actually_. It’s a super cheesy romantic comedy. But I mean, what’s more Christmassy than love?” I laughed, and she blushed, suddenly looking over towards the iPad she was holding. She opened Netflix, and soon we were watching the movie, huddled together under Kara’s blanket. I almost had to pinch myself to make sure it was real. To most people, this wasn’t anything special, just watching a movie on the bus and travelling for Christmas. But I thought for the hundredth time that month that this was and would be the best Christmas I’d ever had.

The movie, I had to admit, really seemed to be made for kids, and I wasn’t usually the biggest fan of animated movies anyway. But the kids in the story were adorable, and the plotline was hopeful and uplifting, and I had feeling that if I’d seen it as a child and I had lots of happy Christmas memories attached to it, I would love the movie as much as Kara did. Regardless, I was happy to be there, I thought, as Kara passed me her plastic mug covered in drawings of reindeer.

“So, what did you think of the movie?” Kara asked when it was finished. Her usual enthusiasm was still there, but the blonde seemed to be growing tired despite herself. Her eyes were squinting behind her glasses.

“It was adorable.” I told her honestly.

“I know, right? Wait until you see _Love, Actually_. That’s adorable in a whole other way. Wanna continue with that right now?” She suggested.

“Are you sure? You seem a bit tired. Are you sure you don’t want to sleep for a bit instead?” Kara shook her head vehemently.

“You have to see this movie. And anyway, I’m not tired.” I laughed.

“You sound like Emmy, you know that?” Kara stuck out her tongue.

“You’re not exactly strengthening your case against being a child.” I pointed out to her.

“Well, I’m not a child, which means I can decide when I go to bed, and I think we should start watching the movie now.” I laughed again. I couldn’t argue with that logic.

I liked this movie better than the one before, not in the least because this one had actual live actors instead of animated children. In fact, I was so engrossed in the movie that I didn’t even notice Kara slowly falling asleep beside me, until she shifted around and her head fell onto my shoulder. I almost sat up in surprise, realising at the last moment that the blonde was getting some much needed rest and I didn’t want to disturb her by moving around too much. I turned to look at her face, moving slowly so as not to jostle her, and saw that she had indeed fallen asleep. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth had fallen open just a bit. I smiled despite myself. The girl looked even sweeter than she usually did, lying there like this. Gently, I removed the glasses from her face and put them away in the backpack. After a moment, I decided to go back to watching the movie. I figured Kara had seen it plenty of times before and wouldn’t mind me finishing it without her. And besides, it wasn’t like I would fall asleep myself any time soon.

I berated myself mentally for choosing to travel with a night bus. At the time, it had seemed like a good idea, travelling during the night so as to have as much time as possible to actually spend in New York City. I’d forgotten, however, that I would never manage to fall asleep on a bus. The only way I could sleep peacefully was in a room with the door locked. Definitely not surrounded by a bunch of strangers. I wanted to be well rested for our trip, but I knew that realistically, this was never going to happen.

It was two am when I finished the movie, and I had to admit that the happy stories combined with the blanket on my lap and Kara’s head on my shoulder left me feeling drowsy. I knew sleep wasn’t in the cards, but I decided to close my eyes for a moment, leaning my head against Kara’s.

Next thing I knew, I was woken up by someone gently tapping my shoulder.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Kara said softly. “I wanted to let you sleep as long as possible, you looked like you could use the rest. But I figured you’d like to see this.” She pointed out the window, and, after my initial surprise that it was already light outside, I noticed what she was pointing towards. I gasped. This was it. The New York City skyline. Even though I knew that New York City was quite close to National City, I hadn’t ever imagined myself actually being there.

“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” Kara said. I could only nod. “I remember the first time I saw it like it was yesterday. It was two years ago, actually. Me and my ex-girlfriend went to New York City for Pride.”

Pride? It took me a moment to realise what she meant. Without my consent, a picture popped into my head, of Kara dressed in her usually brightly coloured clothes, with a rainbow flag tied around her neck like a superhero cape. I smiled involuntarily, and I was glad Kara was staring out the window and didn’t notice.

We spent the last half-hour of the bus ride looking out the window, pointing out famous sights to each other as we passed them, Kara of course recognising way more than I did. Finally, we arrived at the bus station. Kara had already packed everything into the backpack while I was asleep, so we only had to take our luggage out of the overhead and then we were ready to leave. We descended the stairs of the bus, Kara walking in front of me. When she arrived on the ground, she spread her arms theatrically and grinned. “NYC, baby!”


	12. NYC, Baby!

I looked around in wonder. So this was it. This was New York City, featured in so many movies and tv series that it was impossible to keep track. The city that was so famous it was practically the capital of the world. The city I’d seen so many times in books and on screens but had never actually _seen_. Even from where we were standing, next to the bus station, the hustle and bustle of the city was already obvious. There were people walking around everywhere I could see. So far, though, there was no snow.

“Should we go to the hotel first? Drop off our stuff and freshen up a bit from the bus ride.” I agreed quickly with Kara’s suggestion, excited to be able to explore the city without having to drag my suitcase behind me.

The hotel turned out to be nearby. It was in a small building, tucked away between two skyscrapers. I couldn’t quite recognise the style of the building, even though I’d taken an interest in architecture when I was in high school. I supposed New York was a jumbled mess of styles anyway. Regardless, it was a beautiful brick building, and I couldn’t believe that we would actually be able to stay here, right in the centre of NYC.

The person at the reception desk smiled brightly when he saw us enter. “Hey, Kara! It’s so good to see you.” Kara smiled back as he waved us through.

“It’s great to see you too, Carl. Is Tatiana in her office?” He nodded.

“Right through there. You can’t miss it. It’s the one with the three giant wreaths on the door.” Apparently going overboard on the Christmas decorations was a Sawyer family trait too.

A tiny black-haired woman opened the door when Kara knocked, and engulfed Kara in a hug before I even had a chance to say high.

“Oh, it is so wonderful to have you with us again, _sole_!” Kara smiled brightly.

“It’s great to see you too, Aunt Tatiana. Thank you so much for letting us stay here.” The woman waved her hand dismissively to show it was no trouble.

“Please, it’s a pleasure. The hotel is always open for my favourite honorary niece.” Kara laughed.

“And who is this lovely young woman?” Maggie’s aunt asked, turning towards me. I blushed.

“I’m Lena Luthor, pleasure to meet you. And I see you have good taste in honorary nieces.”

Tatiana laughed, taking the hand I offered her between both of hers and shaking it warmly.

“I like this one, _sole_.” She said, looking at Kara. Kara laughed.

“Yeah yeah.”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Tatiana said. “I’ll show you to your room and then leave you two alone.”

“Thank you, Aunt Ta.” Kara said, pecking her on the cheek.

Tatiana led us through the hotel, to a small room at the very back.

“I’m sorry it’s not much.” She apologised as she turned the key in the lock. “We’re usually all booked up for Christmas and this was the best I could do right now. I did get you a small Christmas tree though, I figured you could go out and buy decorations you like for yourselves.”

She opened the door to the room. As she’d said, it wasn’t big; there was only one double bed, and hardly any room next to it. Especially as all the space in the corner of the room was being taken up by a not-so-small Christmas tree. But the room was clean and pleasantly decorated, and I knew we would have an amazing stay there.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Sawyer. This is amazing. We couldn’t have asked for more.”

“Oh, please call me Tatiana. And it’s nothing at all.” Kara hugged her in thanks.

“Let me know if you need anything, _sole_!” She said, closing the door behind her to leave us alone.

“What is that she calls you? _Sole_?” I asked, turning towards Kara.

“Oh, it means sun. Maggie’s family is originally from Italy, and her aunt still speaks the language. And I suppose she picked up on Maggie’s habit of calling me Little Miss Sunshine.” She pouted, and I laughed.

“Well, you can’t expect people to call you anything else, you really are Little Miss Sunshine.” Kara picked up one of several pillows lying on the bed and threw it at me with surprising accuracy.

“Okay, okay. You are a ray of evil, evil darkness.” I conceded, laughing. “Happy?”

“Certainly.” Kara replied with an air of satisfaction.

“Anyway, what do you want to do first?”

“First, I want to wash my hands.” Kara decided. I shuddered. That was probably a good idea. Who knew what bacteria could be found on New York City doorknobs? We agreed to first freshen up and put on some new clothes, before deciding what else we wanted to do.

Half an hour later, we were sitting opposite each other on the giant bed, two travel guides and Kara’s iPad lying on the covers between us.

“So, what do you want to do?” I asked her. “It’s still early, and the play is not until eight this evening.”

“It’s not just about what I want to do.” Kara replied. “I’ve been here before already. I just want to make sure you get to do all the things you want to do.”

“Honestly, I’ll have a good time no matter what we to do. Like you said, I’ve never been in New York, so I want to see anything and everything. Really, you can decide.” And I meant it: as long as Kara was there, it really didn’t matter to me what we would be doing. Kara didn’t need to be told twice.

“Well, first of all, we need to go the Rockefeller Centre skating rink, of course. I mean, you can’t be in New York City for Christmas and not go there! It’s a Hallmark movie staple. And we need to buy decorations for the Christmas tree Aunt Tatiana got us. Also, well, there’s this one thing I’ve always wanted to do…”

“What is it?” I asked her.

“Well, it’s kind of a terrible idea, actually. We probably shouldn’t.”

“Just tell me!” I prodded.

“Okay, so, you know how there are those really fancy department stores, where one dress costs like four thousand dollars?” I nodded. I’d been there before, with my foster mother: when she had an important business meeting, she would always choose a dress like that to impress and intimidate.

“What I’ve always wanted to do, is go there, and try on a bunch of super fancy clothes.” I was silent for a moment. Even though I could see the appeal, and I couldn’t deny it sounded fun, it really didn’t seem like a good idea. What if we broke one of the dresses? I really wouldn’t be able to take that much unnecessary debt.

“I know, I know, it’s silly.” Kara said quickly. “Just forget about it.”

“No, I think it’s a great idea!” I said impulsively. Kara had seemed so disappointed at the idea of not going that I didn’t know what else to say. And I was fairly sure nothing would go wrong. “Let’s do it.”

“Really?” Kara said, her face lighting up. I nodded.

“Well then, here’s what I suggest. Today is our first day, so lets just explore for a bit. I’m sure that somewhere along the way we’ll run into decorations for the tree, because it would be kind of sad if we left it empty for more than one day. Then tonight, we go to the theatre, and tomorrow we can go to the skating rink and to a superfancy department store!” I nodded enthusiastically. This was going to be a great weekend for sure.

We wandered through the city, content to walk around with no destination in mind. Occasionally, Kara would see a store she thought sold pretty Christmas baubles, and we’d have fun browsing through the shelves, pointing out to each other both the ugliest and the most beautiful pieces of decoration. I was slightly worried that Kara would want to buy all of them, as I didn’t exactly have a lot of money to spend on baubles for a tree I would probably never see again, but she seemed to understand. And I personally also enjoyed just looking at the thousands of different ideas for Christmassy decorations people had come up with.

Walking around the city, I’d expected to feel tiny, in comparison to the skyscrapers. I was surprised to find that I didn’t, not really. I spent most of my time looking at the stores and windows that were on my eyelevel, and I almost didn’t notice that the buildings above that were much higher than those in National City. I suspected that my brain was just not capable of perceiving how incredibly high the buildings were. What I did notice, however, were the throngs of people. Those who were clearly tourists, walking around with maps in hand and pointing at all the different buildings around us, but also those who clearly lived and worked there, walking straight ahead without noticing anything going on around them. It was overwhelming, really, the masses of people. In a sense, I liked the anonymity, but it was also scary. I was just a face among millions, and I felt more insignificant here than I ever had anywhere else, even standing on the top of massive mountains. I supposed this was just what it felt like to be in New York.

Other than, of course, the freezing cold. According to the weather reports, snow was imminent, and I was angry with myself that I’d decided not to pack my snow boots in favour for leaving more room for clothes. My toes were already cold, and I could only imagine how much worse that would get once the streets were filled with snowy sludge. Kara seemed to have no such fears. She walked with a bounce in her step, looking at everything, well, like Kara looked at the world. After a while, however, she noticed me growing quiet.

“Lee, you okay?” She said, putting a hand on my arm for a moment. I managed to smile at her.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m great, I promise. Just a bit cold and tired.” Kara nodded understandingly.

“Want to go back to the hotel for a bit? It’s almost six anyway.” I hadn’t noticed that so much time had passed already. “Maggie’s aunt promised to make us dinner tonight, I promise that will warm you up.”

“That would be great.” I said with a grateful smile. I was glad we wouldn’t have to pay for dinner tonight at least; spending money on food was one of my greatest worries for that weekend.

We went back to the hotel, and I took a hot shower to warm up my frozen toes. Afterwards, Kara and I had dinner with Maggie’s aunt, and it was even lovelier than I’d expected. Not for the first time, I wished I was part of Kara’s family.

Dinner was so lovely, in fact, that I almost lost track of time.

“Kara, I think we need to go if we want to make it to the theatre on time.” Kara looked at the clock, also startled.

“I didn’t realise it was so late already! I’m so sorry Aunt Ta, I wanted to help you with the dishes. ” Once again, Tatiana waved her away.

“It’s perfectly alright, _piccola sole_. Go out and have fun.” We both thanked her again, and then rushed to the kitchen to drop off our finished plates. I was starting to get a bit nervous, not only because I hated being late to anything, but also because while I was really looking forward to seeing Jennifer Morrison, I had no idea how to act around her. I would just follow Kara’s example, I decided. Surely, she would know what to do. Hadn’t she said that she’d already met some other actress before? I wasn’t sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to just upload these two chapters; I'm going on vacation tomorrow, and I'm not sure if I'll have time to continue writing. But I promise that one way or another I will finish this story at some point!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you thought! I already have the next six chapters written, so if you want to see more, I can make it happen :) Promise it'll get more Christmassy.


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